The Uke Club SasuNaru
by State Kunoichi
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke moves into the prestigious school of Konoha Shounen High, an all-boys school. There, he makes new friends, enemies, and love interests, thanks to the popular ring of friends in the school known as The Uke Club, including a certain blonde!
1. Teaser

Check this out! This is a new Fanfic called The Uke Club, featuring the ever-so loved couple, Sasuke and Naruto!

**So this is how the story goes**: Uchiha Sasuke had some issues from his previous school and finally moved to the well-known school called Konoha Shounen High, an all-boys school which definitely helps Sasuke's girl problems. Shortly after arriving there, he finds that this school is anything but normal. There are animals running all over the place, unusually motivated teachers and their weird teaching habits, and of course the the principal with inappropriate sized breasts for the school. But what really catches the raven's attention is the popular ring of friends that all the boys seemed to have their eyes on- a quiet redhead, a very feminine brunette, and of course, a loud hyperactive blonde who Sasuke finds bound to him by unintentional means! Sasuke already hit rock bottom before he changed schools, so things can only go up, right? Right?

**_WARNING:_**Yes, this is in fact, a SasuNaru fanfic, meaning that it will contain **shounen-ai** moments, and even some heavy **smutty yaoi**scenes. If you are under the age of 17, dislike shounen-ai/yaoi, or do not like the pair Sasuke and Naruto or even not like Naruto as the uke in the relationship, then please close the browser now. Do NOT leave any rude comments or flames. Criticism is one thing, bashing my preferences is another.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto made Naruto and all related characters and themes. I only made up this storyline containg said characters.

**P.S.** I spell blond as "blonde" with the extra "e" at the end. It isn't wrong, but it may be a bit unusual to some.

* * *

**Teaser**

The pale boy sprinted down the sidewalk, not paying attention to the buildings zipping by while keeping a tight grip on the bag slung over his shoulder. The winter air bit at his skin as he continued to move further down the walkway. His destination was the only thing in mind. He looked back through the midnight black fringe of his hair for only a second to see if anyone would be following. No, he wasn't in any trouble...or any of _that_ kind of trouble.

Was it mentioned that this pale boy with dark, short hair also had gorgeous black orbs for eyes and a tall, well built figure for a boy his age with a matching drop-dead handsome face? Because that is kind of important. It's been his blessing and curse since he was little. Girls would always start cat-fights to play with him when he was young. As soon as he was deemed old enough for a girlfriend, the fights got so much worse. High school was no different or any better. School clubs were made by his fangirls to praise and worship him like some kind of mortal god.

The raven boy had no real good excuse to leave until only a few months ago when his math teacher left her husband just for him. It became worse when he flat out refused her and she made a late-night visit into his house trying to convince him to marry her. After the police came and took her to- well, he didn't care as long as she was far away from him- it was his chance to get the hell out of the city and enroll to a promising, well-known, all **boys** school. Girls were one thing, but boys were something he could handle. If they hated him, so what? He needed to focus on graduating anyway. He didn't need any friends along the way, not that he had any at his last school. Being alone was just fine for him.

He looked a bit foolish running, but hey, he finally shook off the girls who followed him for several blocks. When the boy finally made his way around a corner, he leaned his back against the wall and let out a heavy sigh. No more girls at school that he had to deal with, meaning no more fan clubs that stalked him on a daily basis. The boy wiped the bit of sweat forming on his forehead, minding not to ruin the heavy blue coat covering his white buttoned shirt as his school uniform along with black pants, and looked down the road that he just turned onto. The building at the end of the road was the girls-free zone as well as his new school, Konoha Shounen High.

Once he made his way past the front gate, the boy stopped to take a good look of his surroundings. He had a few more minutes before school started, so why not take a look around? So he shoved his bare hands into his coat and started to explore. The school was just about the same size as any other normal school, but looked a lot newer, or cleaner in this case. The walls were pretty high and smooth, so no one should be able to climb over it whether they were trying to get in or out.

'So I guess I don't need to worry about any psychotic stalkers,' he thought to himself.

Feeling more relaxed with the 'secure' environment, the raven made his way around the school hoping to waste a few more minutes before he had to go in. The whole area looked deserted, possibly because it was almost time for class to start, or maybe for the fact that it was mid-January. Even so, he continued to walk around the perimeter of the school, looking for a good secluded area for himself, until something frightening caught his eye.

In the courtyard was a lone tree with cherry blossoms starting to bud. But what got the boy's attention was the person underneath. A young girl with a beautiful face stood under trying to grab hold of something in the lowest tree branch. Her long dark hair hung over her shoulders bunched up in her own heavy dark-green coat while stretching to the low branch. The lower part of her body was completely exposed to the cold air except for the fuchsia miniskirt that barely covered her upper thighs.

'W...why the heck....how'd she get in here?'

As soon as she stood on the tip of her shoes to get a better reach, the young girl suddenly turned her head to meet the pale boy's gaze, immediately putting a hitch in his breath. After a moment, she gave a warm smile and pulled from the tree a single cherry blossom in bloom. Letting her feet come back to the Earth, she turned her body and began walking to the lone boy. He didn't know whether he should be panicking or calm. How she managed to get onto school grounds, or maybe wondering why she was walking towards him, made his heart skip a beat, something that has never happened before. Before any final decision could be made in his head, the girl was only a few feet away and parted her lips to speak in a heavenly voice he never thought was possible.

"Are you new here?" she asked so sweetly. "Because I'm sure I have never met you before."

His body remained frozen. Not because of the weather because he couldn't feel that either. The young girl fluttered her eyes a few times before her chocolate eyes were fully visible to the pale boy. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to get a word out of, so all he managed to do was give a weak nod while trying to maintain an emotionless façade.

"Well then, I suggest you go to the front of the school. That's where the main office is. You can go see the principal there and figure out what class you're in."

The raven boy didn't make any other movements, not even one for acknowledging her statement. He only continued his calm breathing that escaped into the air as puffs of smoke. So she gave another soft smile and looked down at the full bloom flower she picked moments ago.

"I'm sorry that I can't escort you there myself, but I have somewhere else to be right now before class. I hope you can understand. And good luck."

Taking a step back, she let her dark-brown eyes meet with the onyx ones one more time, accompanied with a wave, before making her way into the school. Only after she disappeared behind the school did the boy let out a heavy sight to recollect his thoughts. Okay, so there was a girl and she was on school grounds. However, there shouldn't have been a way for her to get through the front gates. Would that mean....the girls here were crazier than the boy thought?

Before he could run over the info in his brain one more time, a warning bell sounded across campus, indicating class would start in a little bit. He let out another heavy sigh and readjusted the bag on his shoulder. It looked like the school year wouldn't go as smooth as he had hoped for.

* * *

Short, right? Well, just like the title of the chapter says, it's a teaser. It contains the full summary and warnings.

Next chapter will be up soon! Take care!


	2. First Impression

**_WARNING:_**Yes, this is in fact, a SasuNaru fanfic, meaning that it will contain **shounen-ai** moments, and even some heavy **smutty yaoi**scenes. If you are under the age of 17, dislike shounen-ai/yaoi, or do not like the pair Sasuke and Naruto or even not like Naruto as the uke in the relationship, then please close the browser now. Do NOT leave any rude comments or flames. Criticism is one thing, bashing my preferences is another.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto made Naruto and all related characters and themes. I only made up this storyline containg said characters.

**P.S.** I spell blond as "blonde" with the extra "e" at the end. It isn't wrong, but it may be a bit unusual to some.

* * *

**First Impression**

"Why the hell is there a "no girls" rule...'

The raven-haired boy, already rid of his winter clothing, only looked at the person in front of him with disgust, but still tried to hold the emotionless mask on his face. The person in front of him was his so-called principal, but didn't meet any of the expectations he had before.

First of all, she was a woman, something he dreaded as soon as walked into her office. This particular woman had long, blonde hair tied into two ponytails while the rest of her hair hung on the side of her face. Her face wasn't too bad for someone like her. The only unexpected thing about it was her usually large forehead that reminded him a bit of someone else from his previous school, but what differed from that girl in his memory was the purple diamond mark in the dead center of her forehead. To the boy, it drew more attention to the large area than away from it, but somehow didn't make it as large as it could be. And her large brown eyes were only a bit lighter than the other girl he met earlier; the mysterious girl's being only a bit darker and yet seemed to be brighter at the same time-

Okay. Getting off of that subject. The boy needed to say something about that girl.

"Uchiha Sasuke," she said with her pink-glossed lips.

It annoyed a bit about the way she said that name. Yes, it was his. Uchiha Sasuke, at the great age of 16, was part of the prestigious Uchiha family that was very well known in the country. The family was top in business, specifically in that of hospitals and other medical businesses, but their wealth also stretched in a few other companies. No one should speak of the Uchiha name with that kind of tone. Sasuke was a person destined for great things as soon as he graduates from high school and will immediately start in the business his late mother and father worked in. His older brother did work in it as well, but that was a different matter for him to deal with. Something he wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. And even so, that pole would _still_ burn.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, a bit annoyed from the tone from earlier.

Said principal took her brown eyes from the file, most likely about him, and placed them on the student himself. She arched an eyebrow as if she didn't like the way he answered her. Hey, at least he _did_ answer.

"You don't have to address me like that. "Tsunade-sama" is just fine."

Sama? Someone sure thought highly of themselves. She shouldn't be talking like that to someone who could be her future boss. Nevertheless, he went along with the little game.

"Yes...Tsunade-sama."

He cringed a bit with the made, but not enough for her to notice. After eyeing him for a bit more, which made him a bit uncomfortable (thanks to his history with women, by the way), she gave a small sigh indicating she would speak again.

"You're just like what the family expectations are thought to be: perfect scores, captain of your last school's Kendo club, head of the Student Council, you really did it all and didn't disappoint. Impressive. But..."

At this point, she lowers the file she was holding to reveal the second annoying trait of the school principal. Why exactly is the person running the place an attractive (not anything Sasuke would fall for) women with breasts almost the size of her head...for each boob?! Not to mention she did a real lousy job of hiding any cleavage, that is, if she was trying. There is no way the boys at this school would be able to learn knowing that they can easily break some rule to get a front row seat of what Sasuke was trying so hard not to look at. An Uchiha is a classy guy and wouldn't stare at a woman like a piece of meat, but this was like a black hole; there was no way your eyes weren't drawn to it.

"But that's not exactly why we're letting you into the school," she continued. "Yes, having you attend does improve our school's image, but you're not someone we were begging to join our student body."

It was Sasuke's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Konoha Shounen High School is not known for high-class people attending and graduating from here. It's known for anyone to enter, even if they are deemed someone who is looked down on and considered someone not favorable to society, and graduate as a well known and helpful person to that same world. We have a way of sharpening anyone to graduate as a better person."

She paused for a minute to let the young Uchiha put a word in, but his blank expression and silence only allowed her to continue speaking.

"I know this all may sound a little cheesy and old, but that's just how this school works. Trust me. This school works in a very 'special' way, and it'll take some time before you'll fully adjust to it. Understand?"

"Yes."

He purposely left out the informality.

"Good. Now here are the papers for your homeroom teacher and your class schedule. I'm sure someone as smart as you can find his own way to class."

The pale boy took the papers without saying a word and gave a small bow before he pivoted on his foot and headed for the door.

"Oh, Uchiha. One more thing."

Sasuke stopped and turned his head just enough to look back at the blonde woman.

"Please understand when I say you try to adjust to things around here. 'Special' isn't meant for something like extreme discipline or anything that you're used to."

The student only raised an arched brow once more, causing Tsunade to let out a like chuckle.

"This definitely isn't something anyone can be used to. I would like to see someone go along with things here on their first day. Hell, I bet there isn't a person out there who can, and I'm a betting woman. But don't go screaming out the front doors, okay? That is all."

He only looked at her for a little longer before leaving her office. So what did it mean by "special"? If it wasn't discipline, then what else could it be? He started down the hallway trying to piece the vague clues together-

He forgot to mention the girl he saw earlier. Sasuke turned around to go back and inform the teacher, but something about that warm smile....he reconsidered it and thought that it was none of his business to be deemed a snitch on his first day, not that he cared what others thought of him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Alright, alright class. Settle down."

A man with silver, lopsided hair made his way to the front of the class. The bottom of his face was covered with a white mask, for unknown reasons, and a scar over his left eye which remained closed. He didn't look too thrilled to run the class, but it was his job so he had to do it.

"Now I have a perfectly good explanation on why I'm late this time. You see, we have a new student joining us this semester."

"So what?" a boy called out. "I bet you didn't even go to the office to meet him! I bet you just met him like five seconds ago!"

"........You see? This is why Tsunade-sama and I are different: I don't take meaningless bets I'll lose to."

Oh that's great. A gambler as the principal and a lazy, unenthusiastic teacher. Things are looking up already. Note the sarcasm.

"So why don't you come on in and introduce yourself to the class."

Taking his cue, the young boy opened the door and slowly made his way in, avoiding any eye contact with the other students. The first thing an Uchiha must establish is status. And that status is dominance and telling others not to mess with him, whether they may be their equals or superiors. After keeping his head high and his posture straight like any good person of his status, Sasuke finally made his way to the front and center of the class.

After a few moments, the young Uchiha finally opened his eyes and made a quick scan of the people in front of him. Nothing too 'special' as Tsunade said. All of them looked pretty much like his old school: some looking in jealousy, some not giving a damn (fine by him) and the rest....oh, this looks a bit like the repeat of his old school. He could see some of the drool dripping out of their mouths. Sasuke wondered how he would deal with a bunch of **boys** following him around all day. Maybe he wouldn't have anything holding him back if he had to be rough....not like that, you sicko's.

Well, he had to give his name, so...

"Uchiha Sasuke."

He left it at that. Nothing of his interests, not a word of his hobbies or history. Seeing how he wasn't planning on saying anything more to the class, the teacher decided to break the silence.

"Okay...thank you for that...wonderful introduction, Sasuke."

Man, Sasuke hated sarcasm used against him. People always trying to act smart, especially those older than him...

"Your seat is in the last row, closest empty seat to the front. Oh, and by the way, my name is Kakashi."

The young Uchiha gave a weird look to his teacher before walking to his seat, avoiding the glares and hungry eyes pinned on him. It really didn't matter what the teacher was like, forgetful and all, just as long as it didn't ruin his GPA. He quietly took his seat and looked at the front of the class.

"Okay class," Kakashi began, "before we begin: Haku, go to the infirmary and change into the proper uniform. Now."

At this point, the seat at the other side of the classroom made a small clatter noise as the young girl from earlier stood from her desk and gave the teacher a pout-

Hold up.

How long has she been here? And more importantly, she was a _he_?! How the pale boy was unable to see her- er, him at first glance of the class and piece together the now obvious clues was far beyond him. He was still in shell shock when the teacher and the false-female were in an argument and when he left in a huff. This person, the one he saw earlier....was a boy? Sasuke was snapped back into reality when he heard snickers coming from the classroom, which he could only assume were targeted towards him. Whether or not his stone-cold composure was broken or not, the raven only took a deep breath and continued to uphold his image.

"Now that that's out of the way," Kakashi said to settle the class, "I would like to start class with- oh, hold on."

Kakashi raised his arm and looked at his watch, counting aloud.

"3...2...1..."

The door to the classroom opened violently to reveal the source of the noise. There, standing in the doorway was a boy that definitely screamed for attention: The tanned-skin, whiskered marks on his cheeks, big azure orbs that took the position as his eyes, and to top it all off, golden locks that jutted in every direction possible (not bad enough that he was a blonde, but bed head?). His body was thin for his age, and a bit smaller, so the uniform he wore gave him a weird sort of...."childish"? look to him, if that's what it was.

Everything about the blonde child said "LOUD," but looks could be deceiving, so it would depend on how the boy acted that would determine what he was like.

"Naruto," the lazy teacher said calmly, "you're late."

"I have a valid explanation, unlike you, Kakashi-sensei!"

Scratch that. Apparently he, Naruto, _was_ as loud as he looked.

"Why the hell was _your dog_ chasing me?! I didn't do anything freakin' wrong this time!"

When one of his fingers darted to the ground next to him, a small, brown English bulldog wearing a small blue vest trotted his way into the classroom and sat right next to the masked man's feet.

"I didn't tell Pakkun to do anything," Kakashi smiled through his mask. "He must have followed you on his own accord."

Now the teacher brought one hand up to his chin and gave a puzzling look to the shrieking student.

"However, if he _did_ follow you, then maybe you i_are_/i up to something..."

"Oh save it, you damn pervert!"

Great. He's a pervert too.

"You know damn well that pets aren't allowed in school!"

"Shut it, Blondie!"

A brunette shouted shot up from his desk while shoving a finger towards the student similar to earlier except with the finger pointing to the dog. Apparently, this guy could match the blonde's volume.

"Don't give that crap! Tsunade's got a damn pet pig running errands for her for cryin' out loud! How the hell is she suppose to enforce that rule?!"

Accompanying his complaint came a high-pitched bark. It wasn't from the dog from at the front, so Sasuke spun his head around to see, past the other desks and very close to the ground, a small white puppy giving a similar expression like his master.

Okay, first the she-male, now the puppy! How the heck did this miss his Uchiha sensors? This place wasn't strange; it was the twilight zone. Just when he tried to find some kind of string of thought that could make sense, an angelic voice cut through the bickering between the two loud boys.

"Excuse me, Naru-chan, but could you please move so I can get in?"

Naruto turned a bit to reveal the girl- damnit! - _boy_ from earlier. Now...._he_ had put on the proper uniform for the school and pulled his long hair back into a bun, but still had some of his dark hair drape on the sides of his face. Even so, he still had the same alluring appearance as he did in a skirt.....wait. That _wasn't_ what Sasuke wanted to think.

"Ah! Ha-kun! What? Kakashi-sensei made you change clothes again?"

Now he crossed his arms and inflated his cheeks that made a pout in a cute- never mind.

"Yes, but he never had a problem with it before."

"I know, I know," the Kakashi sighed. "But now Tsunade-sama is starting to get on my case for being so lenient, so now I have to be a bit harsher."

"Well, there's no way I'm leaving Akamaru alone at home if you're gonna keep your dog and if Tsunade is going to keep her pig."

"Arf arf!"

"It seems fair. So I'll just wait until Tsunade-sama starts yelling at me before we do anything else about this. Now everyone, take your seats so I can actually start class."

The blonde agreed to do as told, but not without muttering something under his breath causing his friend to giggle. The class seemed to be settling down, finally, as Naruto made his way to his seat while giving a small smile to someone unknown to Sasuke. So as soon as this huge distraction takes his seat, class would finally beg- he's getting closer. Oh no. This was _not_ turning out the way he hoped it would. Closer...closer...

He's right in front of Sasuke's desk. And staaaaring.

The blonde only looked at him with a dumbfounded look and his head tilted slightly to the side. It was a bit amusing seeing him do so because his fox-like appearance only became a bit more obvious now. The young Uchiha only returned his look with an arched eyebrow, hoping he would just forget whatever thoughts he had and finally take his seat.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen here.

"What's that?!" Naruto finally asked, out loud and for the whole class to hear, with the same finger from earlier pointing to the Uchiha.

"That?" Did this guy just call an Uchiha a "_that_?" Even Sasuke couldn't keep his cool composure with that kind of insult. So in response, he narrowed his dark eyes into a fierce glare hoping to make the blonde shut up once and for all.

"Naruto, sit down," Kakashi called out. "You're disrupting class."

"But there's this guy sitting in front of me now."

"Yes, and you would know why if you weren't late to class."

"But Pakkun chased me! And he's _your_ dog!"

"Naruto. Sit down."

"But-"

"Sit."

"But-"

"Sit."

"But-"

"Sit."

"But-"

"Oh, just sit down already," a student finally called out.

As entertaining as this was, the voice seemed quite bored with the entire thing. Defeated, the tanned boy puffed out his cheeks, a very childish thing to do, and not as appealing as the other boy (you didn't just hear that), and took his seat behind Sasuke while letting out a loud grunt when hitting his seat- hard.

"Okay class. Today, I thought we could start things off with-"

"Hey," came a whisper.

Oh no.

"Hey!"

This time with a poke.

You've _got_ to be kidding. Out of all the people in the world, out of all the people in the school, this guy had to sit behind Sasuke and this guy just _has_ to annoy him?

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyy!"

The raven was trying to ignore him. Couldn't the dobe tell? Maybe if he didn't give any response, he would just give up and finally leave him alone.

Now a pencil started jabbing his side.

Is this guy for real?

"Hey! New kid! Heeeeyyyyy!"

One could only stand so much, but an Uchiha's patience was much shorter than the average person. Apparently subtle hints wouldn't work on this guy. So Sasuke pulled the attacking pencil out of the blonde's hand and dropped it by his own desk. Now maybe he would finally take the hint and just stay-

"Hey! That's my pencil!" came a loud shriek.

....Amazing. Just. Simply. _Amazing_.

"Naruto, I'm _trying_ to teach a class here."

"Yeah, for _once_. But this guy stole my pencil!"

"Naruto, be quiet."

"Hey! Hey new kid! Say you're sorry for taking my pencil! Give it back, you jerk! Hey! Hey!"

As if the poking wasn't annoying itself, now he was shaking the poor Uchiha by the shoulders like a rag doll trying to get him to say something.

Well, it worked.

"That's it!" Sasuke finally shouted.

In one swift movement, the pale boy slammed his hands on his desk, shot up from his seat, and whirled around to give the unfortunate blonde one of the nastiest looks he could harbor. Never before had anyone gotten Sasuke so riled up before, not even the girls from his old school could do such a thing, and here Naruto had achieved the impossible in less than three minutes.

Naruto had already pulled himself away by the sudden movements given off by the new student, but wasn't fast enough to move out of his grasp. Two pale hands shot through the air and took hold of the whiskered face, ready to make his next move. But the face he grabbed had an unusual impact on him. For a split second, those cerulean eyes that were staring at him made the raven's breath hitch and his hands pull back, just a bit, and wondered how this guy could make Sasuke react in such a way. But those feelings quickly disappeared when he continued on with the punishment and pinched each cheek and pulled as far as he could to get his point across.

"Would you just shut _up_ for _five minutes_?"

Maybe now this blonde kid would finally get it and not bother the Uchiha any longer since whatever image he was trying to build on his first day quickly crumbled thanks to this boy. But just like everything else that had happened so far, things didn't turn out the way he planned. Two tanned hands came up and did the impossible, again, by grabbing Sasuke's face and began pulling as well.

It soon evolved into a battle of pride because neither boy was going to give in to the other. As their faces were being pulled out to unthinkable lengths, the rest of the class decided to join in the chaos and begin chanting and cheering to make things worse, as if they weren't bad already.

"Go Naruto, go!"

"Get him, Uchiha!"

"Five bucks on Naruto!"

As the class continued to move off on their own tangent, the teacher merely watched in silence as all chaos broke out in between the four walls. Finally, he put the chalk down and gave a small shrug to himself.

"Well, I tried..."

And with that, he moved over to his own desk and pulled out an orange book, propped his feet onto the desk and turned to some page to begin reading. Without any supervision with the fight, it evolved from pulling on each other's faces to putting each other into submission holds and make the other beg for mercy.

Oh yeah. This year was going to be _so_ much fun.

**

* * *

**

Aaaannnddd....that was chapter 2! Did ya like it? I hope so! More is planning to come along the way!

So even though this is suppose to be **SasuNaru**, did anyone catch the hint of _**SasuHaku**_? I plan to have fun with this little side idea. *wink*

By the by, I laugh at those who thought the "girl" was Neji. Come on, _Neji?_ I don't care what his Shippuuden outfit looks like, I'm sure he wouldn't be caught dead in a skirt. *lol* Though I applaude those who believed it was Haku.

Be patient for the next chapter. I hope to get out of school soon so I can have more time on my fanfics. If anyone attempts to hold their breath until the next chapter, I'm not responsible for any medical bills.

Bai bai! *waves*

_**EDIT:** Okay, when I meant "laugh at people who thought it was Neji"......oh man. I guess I meant to say that I laugh at the idea and when people thought that, not at the actual people themselves. But whatever. Maybe some people can't take a joke; maybe my sense of humor is a bit off or I worded it wrong. Geeze. Sorry if I offended anybody._


	3. As If Things Can't Get Worse

**_WARNING: _**Yes, this is in fact, a SasuNaru fanfic, meaning that it will contain **shounen-ai** moments, and even some heavy **smutty yaoi **scenes. If you are under the age of 17, dislike shounen-ai/yaoi, or do not like the pair Sasuke and Naruto or even not like Naruto as the uke in the relationship, then please close the browser now. Do NOT leave any rude comments or flames. Criticism is one thing, bashing my preferences is another.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto made Naruto and all related characters and themes. I only made up this storyline containg said characters.

**P.S.** I spell blond as "blonde" with the extra "e" at the end. It isn't wrong, but it may be a bit unusual to some.

* * *

"Alright," Kakashi sighed. "Now that that's out of the way, what do you two say?"

Thanks to about twenty minutes of fighting, both Naruto and Sasuke sat in chairs facing opposite directions. It wasn't until another teacher from a different classroom came in and complained about the noise in the class for Kakashi to actually step in and stop the boys' fight. Now an apology from both boys was supposed to come, but the look on their faces said otherwise, so the silver-haired teacher was going to have to force it out of one of them.

"Naruto."

"What? Why me?"

"Because he's the new student and I'm not going to assume that he's a troublemaker when there's already one in this class, which is you."

"Well, you can forget it, because I'm not gonna apologize to that duck-butt-haired jerk anytime soon!"

...He did _not_ just make fun of Sasuke's hair. He really was asking for trouble. And to make the situation worse, he stuck out his tongue, once again like a child, and decided to end the argument then and there. Neither the teacher nor the raven was amused by his actions.

"Alright then," Kakashi sighed. "If you're not going to apologize now, then you'll have more time to do so when you spend the rest of the day with Uchiha."

"WHAT?"

Although Naruto was screaming, it sounded more like a few more people joined in.

"You heard me. Escort Uchiha to the remainder of his classes today. You must stay with him at all times. If you're not sharing a class with him, you'll have to meet him before and afterwards. Do I make myself clear? Failure to do so will get you in trouble."

After a minute of letting his jaw drop, the annoying blonde regained what little composure he had and continued to shout at the teacher.

"So what? What if I say 'no'?"

"Well, I was going to send you off to someone else and let them deal with you."

"Tch. I knew you were too lazy to do it yourself!"

Sasuke couldn't help but agree with his newfound enemy. He was supposed to be the adult, so why did he let his students get so out of control while he just continued to read his inappropriate novel (as if he could hide such a thing from the Uchiha eye)? So far, said raven was not impressed with the way things were running around here. So _what_ exactly was it that made this school so special?

Back to the matter at hand, the silver-haired teacher only gave a hidden smile to Naruto's statement and spoke in a sweet but threatening tone.

"Oh? Well, what if I send you to Tsunade-sama? Would _that_ make a difference?"

The name itself made the tan boy's entire body freeze in the spot. That woman, yes, she was the principal, but was it really something to react as much as that when her name was mentioned? Sasuke couldn't figure out why the troublesome little blonde looked like his life was at stake.

"You wouldn't."

"Would you like to test me?"

The teacher's face looked so innocent, but the venom dripping off his words were so painfully obvious, even Sasuke couldn't help but shift uncomfortably in his seat (ever so slightly since Uchiha's aren't intimidated).

It was no use. Naruto couldn't win. Even though all laws of school physics state that a student couldn't win against a teacher, the blonde was clearly outmatched. So his childish behavior shone once again while he grunted and crossed his arms in a very displeased fashion.

"Good boy." Kakashi piped up.

Whatever heavy atmosphere came from the little spat quickly lifted and the room seemed to turn to normal once Kakashi began speaking to the class.

"So since Naruto decided to disrupt most of the time in class today-"

"Hey!"

"-I'll give you the rest of class as free time. Don't get too loud and disturb the other classes. Studying is optional, though I'm pretty sure most, if not all, will ignore that."

As soon as his speech was done, as if it was a routine, all the boys immediately jumped from their seats and ran to a part of the room to talk to another person. Even the loud-mouth sitting next to the young Uchiha made his way through the isle, bumping into the raven's arm (intentionally or not), and ran to the back of the room wearing the largest grin Sasuke had ever seen. It looked as though no one else would with studying, but that wasn't going to ruin Sasuke's perfect grade streak. The said raven pulled out the textbook they were supposed to read in class and turned to the assigned chapter and began reading to catch up on the missed work from the little fight.

"Hey new kid!"

...Or that's what he thought he would do.

So the new student, assuming he would regret his actions later, turned in his seat to the source of the sound to find two boys approaching his desk: the loud brunette from earlier and another dark haired boy with his hair tied back. Getting a closer look at the boys, the brunette had red triangle marks on each cheek (another school violation...not that they seemed to matter anymore) and his hair in a very unruly fashion similar to the blonde. The dark-haired boy looked absolutely bored and quite possibly ready to fall asleep standing up, if possible. Even so, to Sasuke's dismay, both were indeed getting closer and closer to his desk. The raven only prayed that these two wouldn't make a big of ruckus as the last person he talked to.

"What up?" the brunette asked while taking the seat in front of Sasuke.

The other boy only took the seat next to him and rested his head on his hand, closing his eyes as if he was taking a nap. The brunette gave a smile, similar to Naruto's but not as large, while eying the Uchiha over before making his next statement. Sasuke only turned his head back to his textbook.

"You adjusting to things here yet? I bet you aren't."

No answer. But he continued to talk.

"Hey, it's alright if you don't get things at first. I guess it takes some time getting used to it."

Sasuke continued reading. The smile on the brunette's face only shrunk for a moment.

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba, the coolest guy in school and this is Nara Shikamaru, the smartest but laziest kid in the universe."

"...hey."

Boy that was a late response.

"And this here," he said while bending over, "is the greatest, most important one of them all-"

He pulled up, to no surprise, the little white puppy standing nearby.

"Akamaru!"

The dog gave a small yip after the brunette, but nothing cane out of the raven's mouth. Maybe these guys were smarter than the blonde and would take the hint that he wanted to be left alone.

"You ignoring me?"

Why can't anyone in this school take a hint?

"Look," the tired boy sighed, "if he doesn't want to be bothered, then we should leave him alone. Otherwise, things could get troublesome."

First sign of intelligence since Sasuke came to this school. If it weren't for the "leave-me-alone-and-get-the-hell-away-from-me" front he was trying to hold, he would have actually turned to the boy and thanked him for actually getting what he was trying to say. But Uchihas don't do that, so he didn't. His only actions were turning the page in the text book and actually try to read the next page. But once again, just like everything else Sasuke thought _should_ happen didn't.

"What's your problem Uchiha? Why don't you say something?"

If he thinks he's going to get a response just because he raises his volume-

"Man, it's like talking to another Hyuuga Neji!"

This got Sasuke's attention.

"A Hyuuga goes here?" he finally asked, raising his head from his book.

The other boys, mostly Kiba, widened his eyes from the sudden and unexpected question from the new student. This amused the dog-lover enough to let a grin slide onto his face.

"Ooh~ Interested are we? Bet you didn't think you'd be the only rich kid that attended this school, huh?"

Sasuke couldn't care less about who attended this school. It was more about the person he was compared to. First of all, this person that was mentioned in the same sentence as the young Uchiha was a Hyuuga. The Hyuuga family was pretty well-known and well-off, but not nearly as well as the Uchihas. They were in charge of smaller medical practices and businesses within the Uchiha Company, specifically research and different physical therapies. And to be quite honest, they were very good at their job. This wouldn't be the first time that he had an encounter with a Hyuuga, and he was sure it wouldn't be his last.

The second thing that got Sasuke's attention was the fact that he was compared to _anyone_. You absolutely **do not** compare Uchihas to anyone, especially _Sasuke_.

"Who's Hyuuga Neji?" Sasuke asked, keeping his calm.

"Oh? Well...hmmm..."

Kiba looked like the type to enjoy someone under his thumb. Hell, most people would. Instead of giving a straight answer, he just had to mess with the pale boy.

"I dunno if I should just tell you all this...since you've been pretty cold to me earlier..."

"Fine then."

He just turned back to his book to continue reading. No way in hell is Sasuke going to play some little game and beg for an answer. Uchihas don't beg. In fact, it should be the other way around, considering the other boy loved his dog so much. Sasuke can find the answer for himself later.

"The hell?"

"Hyuuga Neji," Shikamaru started, without the loud mouth's permission, "happens to be a year older than us. He's top in his grade, captain of the Martial Arts Club, a sport he had been doing since he could walk."

He paused to let out a long sigh. That little explanation had better not worn him out.

"He's in the Student Council, but there's a rumor going around that he could be president next year. He happens to be the most popular guy in the school, a troublesome spot to be, where all the girls outside the school and the guys here happen to adore him. This guy had one of the worst attitudes ever until-"

"Yeah!" the brunette interrupted. "He was one of the worst! Man, you should have seen him! He would always beat the crap out of people for no reason, thinking that they were all 'inferior' to him or something like that. The best story was the one where this girl, this was at his middle school, confessed to him, and he was like, 'We're not even meant to be together,' and 'Who the hell are you?' and also-"

"Until what?" Sasuke asked a bit annoyed.

Yeah, he interrupted this guy's story, but so what? He interrupted that Nara guy's story first. And so what if he's getting annoyed by it? Sasuke asked who Neji was, not how confessions with him went. The lazy boy, who seemed to take another hint, continued on with his story.

"Well...he had a very bad attitude until he met a certain person from our grade."

"Then what happened?"

"He pretty much mellowed out. He stopped being so harsh to everyone, meaning he didn't wail on people when making eye contact, but he's still got a bit of an attitude."

"Wanna know the guy who changed him?" Kiba asked.

Before Sasuke could protest that he couldn't care who made the Hyuuga turn a new leaf, the brunette's thumb pointed to the back of the class to a small group of boys. There were about ten boys standing around, but only three boys stood out in the entire group. One of them had to be who Kiba was talking about.

In the middle of the ring of boys were the three boys sitting and standing around one desk. A quiet redhead sat in the seat with his arms crossed. Being another student violating the dress code, this boy had dark thick lines around his eyes. He seemed to be listening to the other two, but had a cold glare on his face. Other than this, he had a bit of a natural blush on his face, so he had a bit of an image which could be said to be...cute? That is if Sasuke would even go that far as to describe him like that, but Uchiha doesn't swing that way, plus his looks looked a bit threatening to others.

Then there was one he was more familiar with. The blonde idiot, Naruto, sat on the desktop his redhead friend was sitting. His body was already small, but being surrounded with other boys that were shaped like him made it a bit more obvious. He had a baby face with a bright smile that made him look so innocent, especially as he swung his legs a bit when sitting on the desk. Compared to the other boy, the blonde really did hold a "cute" image. Even when he was holding the third boy's hands and swinging them back and forth while laughing, he still looked like a child.

The third boy was surely the one who made the biggest impact. The "girl" he saw earlier. What did Naruto call him? Ha-kun? I'm sure he has a real name, and he was sure he would find out in no time since the others seemed so interested in him. He gave a similar warm smile to the blonde as they held each other's hands and laughed and talked back and forth between one another. Even in a boy's uniform, he still had that feminine charm that made him...out of the three boys, the best way to describe this boy would be "beautiful."

Great. Only a transvestite would get an Uchiha to question his sexuality.

"Yep. It was the President of the Uke Club. Uzumaki Naruto."

The way Sasuke's head spun around, making it look like his head would fall off, made him look as if he wanted to say "Whoa. Back up. Uke what? And he's the damn president?" With this reaction, the dog-lover didn't hold back a laugh and, surprisingly, Shikamaru even let out the sigh that resembled a silent chuckle.

"You surprised about the one who changed Neji or the fact that he's president of the club?"

"How about that there's such a club in this school?" Sasuke snorted.

Kiba gave a small laugh before he continued.

"Well, it's not really a club. It's actually the group of boys that, well, are 'ukes.' The other guys in the school just call them that."

Sasuke looked back at the small group and took another look at the laughing blonde.

"And you're telling me...that _he_, out of all people, changed Hyuuga?"

"Hey, don't talk too bad about the kid since you don't know him. He may be a real pain in the ass when you first meet him, and most of the time, and likes to pick fights with everyone, and loves to find ways to get in trouble...um...what was I- oh yeah! But little sunshine here only means well."

"This is an unbiased opinion of Naruto," Shikamaru added, "since Kiba was dumped by him years ago."

"Bullshit!"

As if on command, the brunette shot up from his desk and shot a finger towards the exhausted boy.

"That is _not_ what happened! He's just too stupid to know when someone's hitting on him!"

With the small pause, Sasuke decided to take a quick look around the classroom to see if anyone would be staring thanks to the sudden outburst. However, everyone was still engaged in their own conversations. So was this kind of thing just normal at this school? The midnight eyes went back to Kiba as he reclaimed his seat in front of the young Uchiha.

"B-besides, he's more like a little brother to me now, anyway. But listen, he's a really likeable guy. Even Shika here can put up with him, even though he acts like an old man and can deal with anything. If you really get to know him, then you'll see why someone like Neji changed."

When the last word came from the dog-lover's mouth, the door to the classroom with another student on the other side.

"Speak of the devil," Shikamaru sighed.

The boy was tall and well-figured. His skin was slightly pale, but nothing compared to Sasuke's. And like any other Hyuuga that the young Uchiha was familiar with, his hair was dark and his eyes a very light shade of lavender, very close to white. His face, though, was exactly like an older Hyuuga he was familiar with; a very stern look on his face and his eyes narrowed. Sasuke knew this boy came here with one purpose and nothing was going to stop him from accomplishing his goal.

It was only for a second that light eyes met dark ones. The older boy only gave Sasuke a glance before proceeding into the room. His head was held high, showing off all the nobility to be a Hyuuga. Kakashi even took his eye off his lecherous book and watched the student as he made his way to the front desk.

"Kakashi-sensei," said sternly.

"Why hello, Neji," Kakashi greeted with a smile. "What brings you to our class this time?"

"The same reason I always appear in this class."

The boy turned around and scoped the class before raising his voice for all the students to hear.

"It appears Tsunade-sama sent me to bring to her office the ones responsible for vandalism in the teacher's lounge."

His eyes settled on one side of the class. Sasuke could have sworn the older student was looking his way, but he had done nothing wrong (even when fighting with Naruto).

"One that involves a rubber chicken, a garden hose, and ten pounds of guacamole. Would anyone happen to have any ideas?"

Sasuke didn't notice it before, but now it was pretty obvious. Kiba was eerily quiet. In fact, so was the rest of the class. But the brunette's body was completely still and he appeared to be sweating. Even looking down at the white puppy, his expression was filled with fear also, as if their minds were linked and they expressed the same emotions.

Too much time passed for Kiba, even if it was only a few seconds, but the intense gaze Neji seemed to have, which barely rivaled that of an Uchiha's, seemed to affect him a lot. So he instantly jumped from his desk and stood in front of the Hyuuga begging for his life.

"It wasn't me! I didn't do it! It was Naruto! Blame him!"

"Oh that's a load of bull, dog-breath!" Naruto retorted.

Much like the other boy, the blonde dashed out of the circle of boys, shoved Kiba out of the way and pleaded his case.

"I had _nothing_ to do with it! Whatever happened, it was all Kiba! Why the heck do you think he blamed me before questioning?"

"Because it _was_ you! This is your prank!"

Akamaru decided to join in on the fight with his annoying barking.

"Yeah right! Who was the one who thought of it?"

"That was still you!"

"Then who was it who-"

"Enough!"

The command easily shut both loud-mouths and the puppy up. Sasuke made a mental note that he would train them to do the same when he spoke, except it will be more effective and precise since an Uchiha will be giving orders. Neji took Naruto by his hand and Kiba by his collar and lead them to the door.

"Now that I have the culprits, please excuse us."

"Oh man! Don't take us to Tsunade!" Kiba whined.

"I can't see Baa-chan again! She said she'll kill me if she does!"

...This kid has no shame...or respect for others. There is no reason he should call the principal "baa-chan." And he should have a little more pride than to let himself cry like that.

"Please, Neji!"

It was by this time Naruto ran out in front of the older boy, but still in his grasp, and began begging for his life.

"_Please_ don't take me to Baa-chan! Please! I'll do whatever you want! I swear! Just don't send me there!"

If anyone else didn't see it, Sasuke sure did. The sudden halt in all of Hyuuga's actions; the little twitches throughout his body; especially the glint in his eye. Neji slowly let his eyes meet with the blonde's and let this sly look sneak upon his face. It was now obvious that Naruto had this kind of effect on the older student, but it was still unknown if the tan boy knew that he did. He looked pretty oblivious.

When it looked like Neji would crack to Naruto's charm (which was only visible to the Uchiha eye), Kiba had to go and ruin everything.

"Y-yeah! I promise I'll do your homework or wash your car or whatever! Just don't take me to Tsunade! I beg you!"

With Kiba being Neji's buzz-kill, he regained whatever composure he lost, replaced his firm grip on both the hand and collar of the guilty boys and dragged them out of the classroom.

"Trying to bribe me will only get you two in more trouble," he said calmly.

When all three were successfully out of the room, what with the kicking, screaming, barking, and threatening and all, all the other students went back to their usual routine. Even the two other boys around the blonde just continued on as if nothing happened.

"Don't worry about them so much, Uchiha," Shikamaru said. "They get in trouble once a week, at least. And Neji is usually the one responsible for bringing the two to the principal, so this certainly won't be the last time seeing him. So."

He stood up from his seat and lazily turned his head to the raven.

"What I suggest is how you will try and deal with said troublemaker since he'll be leading you around for the rest of the day. Try and start over so he'll warm up to you and do mostly what he's supposed to do, otherwise things will just get more...troublesome for you."

Sasuke only arched a dark eyebrow at the student's suggestion. It wasn't like he didn't understand, he knew exactly what he was talking about, but it was just a habit of his.

"Hn."

The other boy took the sound as an answer and headed to the other side of the room.

"I'm gonna try and take a nap before our next class. I suggest you do the same 'cause you'll need it. Later."

He gave a small wave over his shoulder before he disappeared behind the crowd of boys. The young Uchiha looked back at his book and tried to piece everything that has happened so far together. The school has unusual rules and even more unusual people. But what seemed to be the center of chaos were the ones in "The Uke Club." The main problem would be the blonde "president" Naruto. And now Sasuke will have to deal with him for the remainder of the school day.

Great. Just great.

He let out a sigh before turning his head to read the time on the clock. Just ten more minutes before their next class. And his guide is held up in the principal's office.

Something told the Uchiha that this would only be the tip of the iceberg.

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I guess you can say that it is just as much as Naruto's punishment as it is Sasuke's! :D

This chapter was actually been a bit harder to write because it was only an explination chapter. But now that it's done, I can get on to better things! :D

Until Next Time!


	4. Things Aren't THAT Bad

**_BEFORE WE START:_** I would like to apologize to all the readers out there about my lack of activity on this website. So many things have come up and now that I'm back in school with a lot of hard classes that I actually have to study for, I will have less time to work on this story. I don't plan to abandon this story (no way!). I just need even longer time to work on chapters so I can upload them for you to read. Please be patient and enjoy what is up now.

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_**WARNING:** _Yes, this is in fact, a SasuNaru fanfic, meaning that it will contain **shounen-ai** moments, and even some heavy **smutty yaoi** scenes. If you are under the age of 17, dislike shounen-ai/yaoi, or do not like the pair Sasuke and Naruto or even not like Naruto as the uke in the relationship, then please close the browser now. Do NOT leave any rude comments or flames. Criticism is one thing, bashing my preferences is another.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto is responsible for "Naruto" and all Naruto-related characters, concepts and relationships. I only made up this particular story and the manipulation of Kishimoto's characters.

**P.S.** I spell "blond" with the extra "e" at the end (blonde). It may be a bit unusual to some, but it's not wrong. So don't tell me that it is.

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A trip to the principal's office is i_not_/i the idea of fun for Naruto. And to make matters worse, it was a complete waste of time!

Okay, so Naruto _did_ think of the prank and said how it would be funny if done a certain way, but he didn't _actually do it_. That was all Kiba. Just because you say something doesn't mean you should be accused for it. People always threaten others lives on a daily basis, but that doesn't make them a murderer, right?

Luckily for him, he knew Tsunade pretty well.....and that's _besides_ the countless trips to the principal office. So when he told her it was all Kiba's doing, she could read each other's reactions and believed the blonde. Of course, he would still have some other punishment he would have to deal with later, but he had to first deal with the one Kakashi had given him not too long ago.

Stupid Kakashi. Stupid Baa-chan. They don't try to listen to his side of things, unlike the rest of the students here. But there actually is a reason behind all that. They don't fall for that Uzumaki charm like the others.

...Or so he would like to believe that he has a charm.

He hated to admit it, but he didn't have the actual figure (or voice) ....of a 15 year old boy (but he would turn 16 soon....at the end of the year, about10 months away....sigh). His body, was in fact, pretty small for his age and his shoulders hadn't broadened out like they were supposed to. Hell, if he dressed in the right type of clothes, he could be mistaken as a girl (costume party, Haku's idea). And the worst part of it was that Naruto wasn't the least bit proud of it.

He knew he was cute. He knew the rumors floating around and his close friends and himself were considered members of this "Uke Club." There are even plenty of guys that hit on him on a daily basis. Not to mention the problems he gets when riding public transportation. Only on the right kind of people can his begging work....to an extent. Other than that, he was screw- er, he was in a bit of trouble.

And to top off his _fabulous_ day of being chased by his teacher's dog around the block, he had to be stuck with the biggest prick he had to meet. Honestly, why the heck did he steal his pencil? All he wanted to do was talk to him, introduce himself since they would be sitting next to one another and such. He thought he couldn't hear his whispering, so he tried louder and tried using his pencil. But noooooooooo! He just i_had_/i to take his pencil away. He had to be a total....a total....teme! Why did Naruto have to have a bad record of first impressions with people?! Truth be told, the new kid wasn't the first time the blonde has got off on the wrong foot with someone he just met. But it's okay, because he usually becomes friends with those he fights with at first.....key word being _usually_.

Stupid Baa-chan with her stupid position as principal and her large breasts. Stupid Kakashi and his stupid perverted and lazy habits and stupid dog chasing him every day. Stupid Neji not letting him go. Stupid Kiba for getting him in trouble in the first place. "And let's not forget the stupid new kid and his stupid high-and-mighty attitude and his head so far up his ass but not too much because he doesn't want to mess up his perfect chicken-butt hairstyle he used twenty cans of gel and hairspray to keep in place-"

"Good to know I don't have to worry about you making fun of me behind my back."

Naruto shot his head up from his rambling thoughts to see the new guy standing only a few meters away. He, of course, was leaning on the wall outside the classroom and giving the blonde such an annoyed look. So what if he started a fight with him at the beginning of class? It was that guy's fault for not listening to-

"W-wait. You...how'd you know I was thinking about you?"

His scowl seemed to deepen. Didn't think that was possible.

"Idiot. You were talking out loud. I could only assume you were talking about me."

Naruto just stood in his spot trying to figure out what he was talking about....until it dawned on him.

"Y....you heard that?"

The raven slowly nodded.

Okay, so one of the many, er, _few_ problems with Naruto was his natural ability to speak his mind. A lot. Most of the time without him knowing. So everyone gets to hear his thoughts and this guy just happened to be no exception. And so this guy probably heard about the chicken-butt comment and his snobbish attitude "and probably about him being as pale as Dracula with a fatal disease or his-"

"You're doing it again."

Yep. His face still had the same annoyed look. He was, in fact, doing it again. The blonde sighed now giving the impression that he might be a little mental. He needed to change the subject somehow.

"So.....why are you still here? The bell already rang, you know."

"You heard Kakashi," the raven retorted. "You have to stay with me the entire day. It wouldn't really be fair if I left just because of a stupid prank you pulled."

....Well, that was pretty unexpected. Naruto was pretty sure he would try to get his revenge and get the blonde in trouble. Who knew this guy would actually try and give him a second chance? A small smile tugged on the corner of the blonde's lips before he spoke again.

"Heh. Who knew you would be a nice guy under that cold exterior?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. I don't want you yelling at me for the entire day because I decided to ditch you. You're voice is annoying enough without the volume."

Strike that. This guy is cold inside and out.

Naruto couldn't understand why he couldn't give the blonde a chance. After all, he came back to the classroom. He was pretty sure that this pale kid would have left for class himself, so there wasn't really a point in him coming back, but he did anyway. Why did first impressions have to be Naruto's shortcoming?

Time for another change in subject.

"So, uh, what's your next class?"

"Gym."

"Oh really? So is mine!"

"Then hurry up and take me there, idiot."

It's official. It wasn't Naruto that was making this difficult. It was the other guy. So if he wanted to play that game, Naruto was all up for it. After all, he started it.

"Well then," Naruto sighed as he started walking by the raven boy.

He took his cue to follow him and they went a short distance before Naruto turned around and showed his prize-winning, should-have-been-in-that-toothpaste-commercial grin and shouting,

"I'd like to see how you get there, Teme!"

And with that, the blonde spun on his heels and took off.

He really wanted to see the look on that guy trying to act so cool. So what if he got in trouble for it? He was already going to Hell, so he might as well enjoy the ride down the slippery slope right? Have a good laugh and enjoy the view of one very confused oh-I-think-I'm-so-cool new kid when he was ditched like that.

Tok. Tak. Tok. Tak.

...That can't be right.

Tok. Tak. Tok. Tak.

Why is there such a weird echo in the hallway? He could have sworn that he could hear two sets of feet running. But that couldn't be. So Naruto turned his head to see where the weird source of noise was coming from.

Big mistake.

Only a few meters behind him was that same guy from before, with the same emotionless stare on his pale face and running just as fast as he was.

No way.

Naruto was sure that he left that guy eating his dust! How the heck did he catch up to him? More importantly, why? Actually, he's probably doing this to annoy him. What, he thinks he can match up to the Great Uzumaki Naruto? He can guess again! So with an increase in speed, the little blonde should be able to lose him!

....

......

What. The. Hell?!?!

He was still catching up with him. Now he was close to a full sprint, but that dark-haired boy was still right behind him. So the next plan was to turn every corner in hopes of losing him, even if it meant lapping the gym entrance five times or so. So Naruto did just that as he went into a full sprint and turned another corner in an attempt to lose the annoying pest. But that plan failed as well because that guy was still keeping up. A bit of time passed before the blonde finally gave up and collapsed in front of the gym entrance from exhaustion.

After sitting on the ground a bit, he looked up to see the pale stain in his view leaning against the wall trying to catch his breath as well. It didn't take long before he was straightening himself up and looking down on the blonde- God, how he hated people doing that- before speaking to him with little breaths in his sentence.

"Why the hell....would you do something stupid like....this....stupid?"

"So...so I can....lose your....sorry ass. That's....that's why."

Once again, he tried to give Naruto that ice-cold stare, but the blonde wasn't going to show him that it affected him...much. So after standing up and looking into the cold eyes glaring him down, the tan boy opened the door to the gym and walked over to the locker room, knowing the new kid was following close behind. Well, it was at that point Naruto knew he didn't need any more guidance from him since he wasn't going to dress him for class, so he took the opportunity to separate himself and go change himself.

This was the second worst thing of this class.

The locker room just _happened_ to be set up where the ones of the so called "Uke Club" were on one side of the room while everyone else was on the other. That way, everyone could get a good look at all the smaller boys like wolves staring down meat. And Naruto knew that the ones who got looked at the most happened to be him, Haku and Gaara. And some of the other boys try to "outshine" them by practically putting on a strip-show (which he never understood why anyone would do that to themselves. Not even the women at strip-joints), but it's not like they ever cared. They can put on a show all they want. It just meant less attention to the three boys.

"Naru-chan, where have you been?"

He'd recognized that voice anywhere. The blonde turned around to look at his dear friend already dressed and giving a small glare due to his absence.

"Sorry, Ha-kun," the blonde apologized. "I got sent to Baa-chan's office, remember?"

"Yes, but it shouldn't take you that long to get from her office to here, anyway."

Naruto's face changed from an apologetic face to a gloomy one.

"Uh....I really don't want to talk about it...."

"Well, whatever. Gaara's been waiting for you this entire time, so go and change already."

Those three started a system to keep all the peeping toms away. They would save a few stalls to the bathroom in the locker room for them to change in and one of them would stand guard. Changing in the stalls was a great idea itself until one of the other boys "accidentally" walked in on one of their friends. After that little incident, and Naruto taking another trip to Tsunade's office for defending his friend, a guard was always needed. And Naruto's guard today was Gaara, which was nice since his stare seemed to scare a few people form even think about getting close.

After giving a small apology and receiving a little glare from his friend, Naruto proceeded into the stall and began to change into his gym clothes. After a bit of time, he heard a knock at the door and the redhead's voice.

"You sound just about done, so I'm heading out there."

"Okay! Thanks!"

Getting the last piece of clothes on, and thankful that no one tried to open the stall while he was dressing (he didn't need to see Tsunade more than three times a day), he was ready to head out the door before he saw that boy once again.....this time half naked. He must have just gotten his gym locker, so that would probably explain why he was so late in changing. All he had were his sweat pants on...and socks and shoes, but you get the idea! Point is, he was still dressing for class and well....he kinda grabbed Naruto's attention. For a teenager, he was pretty well built and no fat could be seen on his body. Not that Naruto had any, but he didn't know the new kid had none either.

"What?"

The sudden sentence snapped the tan boy out of his thoughts. When he let his eyes rise up to meet the raven boy, he was holding the same annoyed expression as earlier.

"Was...was I talking out loud again?"

"No. You're staring. That's just as bad."

That's good. If he heard him that time, there wouldn't be anything he could do to erase the awkwardness there.

"I was, uh, just wondering how you aren't so fat is all."

"Because I don't eat junk food, that's why. Are you quite done?"

Why does everything Naruto do seem like a crime to this guy? Well, if he was going to be that way, then fine. So when walking to the exit, the blonde didn't hesitate to try and act friendly to the guy anymore by whispering the new name to the unnamed guy (since Naruto missed the first part of class).

"Teme."

He just about made it out the door before he heard something he would never forget.

"Dobe."

The door to the locker room already slammed itself shut before Naruto could react, no, register the name that was now given to him.

"Do...be?"

The word settled for a few seconds with the blonde standing completely still for what seemed like forever.

"He called me what?! Dobe?!"

It's not that the info took forever to sink in. Well, it kinda did. It's just that Naruto had to be sure he was talking about him, and why he would say such a thing, and...and...What's the use? That guy is just a complete jerk. No questions asked. So with that, the tan boy decided not to wait for "Teme" anymore and leave for the track.

Gym class always had its ups and downs. Mostly downs. There was no thinking in the class, just action, and that's what Naruto was really good at. Another thing about this class was the gym teacher and he......well, what was more interesting was his student aid, and he was......it's really....you would just have to see it to believe it, and Naruto still couldn't believe it (A/N: No joke intended. I SO did not mean that).

So after leaving the student behind, the blonde opened the double doors to the school to meet with the burning cold January air. Sure it was cold, but the soon exercise would definitely warm the tan boy up. Hell, what was lying ahead would warm _anybody_ up. After jogging outside to meet the rest of the class, the blonde made it and met up with Gaara and Haku to begin their stretching.

"So where's Uchiha-san?" Haku asked after a bit.

Naruto looked over at the feminine boy and gave him a questionable look.

"Who?"

"Uchiha Sasuke. The new kid," Gaara answered.

"Oh. _Him_. I left his sorry ass in the locker room. He can find his own way to the track."

"Looks like he did."

Immediately following Haku's words appeared the new kid himself, Uchiha Sasuke. Just as how the bastard acts, he decided to take the empty part of the black top and stretch by himself.

"Teme," the blonde growled. "Thinking he's too good to stretch with the rest of us."

"Don't you think you should warn him?" Haku asked his tan friend.

It didn't take long for Naruto to figure out what his friend was worried about.

"Why should I?"

"You _know_ what happens to anyone who's closest to the front."

"Um...Uchiha....san?"

Someone else already beat them to the punch when a small boy called over to the raven. All he did was look over with that same bastardly look on his face, or maybe that's how he always looked.

"What?"

"Well...er....you shouldn't...."

It was probably the glare Uchiha was giving off that made the boy stutter, but he continued anyway.

"You....um....shouldn't....you shouldn't stand....so close...to there...."

"And why not?"

"**Hello my wonderful and youthful students**!"

And that answered the Teme's question.

Meet Mighto Gai. The man who thinks bowl-cut haircuts and green spandex are the best thing to ever happen and the same guy who reminds others never to even consider pulling off two terrible styles at once. Even others said that Naruto's obsession for orange was no match for Gai-sensei's love of that hideous shade of green (and there's NOTHING wrong with orange, thank you). Not only does he make those two things his trademark, but also his lack of volume control. He can make Naruto (and Kiba. Naruto isn't the only loud one at the school) seem like he lost his voice and if Gai hits the right notes, he could shatter glass, which he is proud of with all his youthful spirit.

Other times Naruto would pray that Gai would be out sick (which he never was), but he was so thankful that he made it that day and with a grand entrance as usual. And the reason why was so Uchiha, aka "Teme", could bask in all his youthful glory.

"**I** **hope all of you are ready for your weekly workouts!**"

A few people gave a few groans as a response, but they were all drowned out by one particular answer.

"**Yes, Gai-sensei! I am ready to work all of my muscles to the max!**"

And there he was, the student aid. Rock Lee. He was actually a grade higher than Naruto and his class, so they didn't see each other as often. That kid had been so hypnotized by the Green Beast's charms and sparkles showing up out of nowhere, he decided to copy everything and learn everything from the teacher himself. All the way from the haircut to green barf color spandex. He was practically the clone of Gai in every way, except for his bug eyes that the teacher lacked, but gladly made up for it in his matching gigantic eyebrows. Rumors say he stole them from Gaara when he was sleeping, but that's impossible since Gaara rarely sleeps.

After Mini-Gai made his entrance, it seemed that the jerk Uchiha hadn't moved a muscle, which was great because as soon as Lee said something, the teacher randomly jumped in the air and kicked his student aid. There had to be some kind of rule against that, but considering all the other weird stuff going on in Konoha, this was sort of normal.....sort of.

"**What's the matter with you, Lee?**" Gai said in his usual loud voice. "**Can't you see that these students are going to be training in their own gym class?**"

"**But Gai-sensei!**"

How Lee managed to survive the kick and speak wasn't anything short of a miracle.

"**I clearly see that! That is why I wish to train with them! So I can give them motivation!**"

"**Lee, you fool!**" He started while pointing a finger at the boy. "**You can't train yourself more than necessary, otherwise your body will not reach the full limits that your youth can display! It's just as important that you rest as much as you train! That way, your body can be fully charged and reach the highest limits that it can! Rest in this class, then train in yours! Only then can your body become as strong and as healthy as mine!**"

As if his loud words seem to hit the student in a sensitive spot, his eyes grew wider, if possible, and began to run tears down each of his cheeks.

"**Oh Gai-sensei! You are truly the best! Only you can give such valuable information about youth and their limits! I only wish I could be just as great as you!**"

The boy raised his arm to his huge eyes and began crying at his own failures. Naruto really wish he could see Uchiha's face from seeing all this only a few meters in front of him. As to comfort the boy, Gai walked over to the student and placed a hand on his mirror image and smiled as big as he could. Hell, even his teeth seemed to give a "youthful" shine.

"**Lee, you **_**could**_** be as great as me.**"

"**R-really?**"

"**Yes. As long as you keep that youthful spirit up and follow all of my rules, then I'm sure you can reach even levels you never could have imagined.**"

Oh, if only their little acts could be put on television. i_Someone_/i other than this school had to see this.

As if on cue, the tears started to fall from Lee's face again and, wait for it, and then Gai started to form tears in his eyes as well! The whole thing was really....something else. And who said grown men can't cry? This guy obviously proved that wrong.

"**Lee...**"

"**Gai-sensei....**"

And with that, the two hugged and displayed their youthful glory to the entire class as the sun shone all of its magnificent glory on the two hugging men. Now, how they made a winter sun around 11 am look like a summer one around 6 pm was something only they could do. And the person to get a front row seat of all of it was none other than the Teme.

"**You!**"

What bad luck.

Gai broke out of the hug to run over to the raven boy and grab both shoulders and show his dazzling white teeth. And the tears from before mysteriously disappeared as well. Weird.

"**You must be the new student that I heard about! Welcome to Konoha! Allow me to be the first to give you a proper youthful greeting since I'm sure Kakashi hadn't done so earlier!**"

Well, he was right about Kakashi. Was it also mentioned that those two were rivals? Well, proclaimed by Gai himself. And everyone in the school just felt sorry for the silver-haired man.

The green teacher wrapped one arm around Uchiha and let his other hand point in some direction.

"**Not only does this school pride itself of its academics, but of its physical abilities as well, and I'm the one who makes sure of that as long as this school stands!**"

"**You're the greatest, Gai-sensei!**"

.....Thank you, peanut-gallery.

"**Now, everyone show the new student how our youthful spirit of this school works and start off with your normal Monday workout!**"

"Yes, Gai-sensei," the others seemed to mumble.

That whole performance shaved off about a good ten minutes or so, but that didn't stop them from the torturous training up ahead. Still, Naruto wanted to see Uchiha's reaction after the whole bit, so he slowly made his way over to the boy, who seemed stuck in his spot, and tease him a bit.

"So! How'd that go, Teme?"

....No response.

Naruto raised an eyebrow before trying to irk the boy once more.

"You get enough of that 'youthful spirit', eh Uchiha?"

....Still nothing.

Naruto couldn't understand what was going on. No one, _no one_ could possibly stand through all that and still be okay. Not even the Teme. So the blonde jumped in front of the pale student ready to yell at him until he saw the problem.

He was in shock. Uchiha made absolutely no movements whatsoever. He wasn't even able to blink because of the little event. He was standing as still as a statue, and this was beyond priceless.

At first, Naruto was ready to laugh his head off until he remembered he was responsible for the new student. Damn unfortunate coincidences. They always ruined his fun. So he had to do what anyone else who was just as knee-deep of trouble as the blonde was: snap the poor boy out of it.

"Hey, Teme. It's over. You can move now. It's safe."

Uchiha didn't move. Still no blinking.

"Uh, Teme?"

Nothing.

"Uchiha?"

He probably wasn't breathing, either. This caused Naruto to panic. He grabbed both sides of the pale boy and began to violently shake him.

"Oh my God! Uchiha! Wake up! Snap out of it, man! Wake up! **Sasuke**!"

He was ready to start slapping the boy, but (sadly) he was brought back to life.

"W-What-? Huh?"

Not exactly the kind of response from someone as snooty as he was, but it was still something.

"Oh thank God, you're alive! I was so worried!"

The relief overwhelmed the blonde so much that he actually hugged the raven boy.

Good feeling didn't last that long.

"Get off of me, Dobe."

The hug was only a second because Uchiha actually shoved Naruto off of him. He almost fell over if it weren't for his amazing balancing skills.

Okay, so he _did_ fall over.

"What the hell was that for, you ass!"

Yeah, that little gesture was a nice way of saying "thank you" to someone. Note the sarcasm.

"And quit calling me that name!"

And once again came that stupid glare of his. That was really getting old.

"You call me 'Teme'."

"Because you are one!"

"And you will forever be a Dobe. So there."

This guy seemed to be really stubborn. Naruto was sure that he was supposed to be the only difficult person around. Seeing how this argument was going nowhere, the tan boy decided to get up from the ground and give a small grunt indicating that the fight was over.

"Forget it. We've got warm-up to do."

The blonde could hear a "Hn" and footsteps following him as both boys made their way to the track and began running with the other students. He didn't need to waste his energy on the Teme because he had to focus on the worst part of class. That's right. The locker room thing was the second worst, and this was the worst part of the class.

"Oi. Dobe."

That name was _seriously_ getting old.

"Not answering if you're gonna keep calling me that," the blonde retorted.

And exactly _how_ did he catch up to him? He was sure he left the pale boy as soon as they started running.

"Well, you just did."

....Damn. He got him there.

"Exactly how many laps are we suppose to run for warm-up?"

That had to be the first un-bastard like thing he had said since he got there. Or as far as Naruto knew. By the time he asked that, they had actually run for about fifteen minutes. No normal warm-up lasts for that long. Key word being "normal".

"Oh, right...You're not familiar with our workout for the week, huh?"

Either Uchiha gave no answer or gave another one of those one-sound answers. It was hard to tell since they were still running. Talking and running was pretty hard, but the blonde always manages to do so.

"Well...we usually have warm-up before the main activity...and we can't do the activity until...everyone finishes the workout...If you don't finish...that day, you try to make up what you didn't finish...plus the new warm-up in next class...This goes on and on every day except Fridays...because those days we play...a game, and everyone participates...even if you haven't finished all your warm-ups....Plus, there's no warm-ups on...Fridays."

"I'm glad that you ignored the question I asked you."

Why does _everything_ to this guy have to be a pain in the ass?!

"So **how many laps**...are we running for warm-up?"

This guy could use another shock for the day.

"Fifty."

Exactly why this was the worst part of class. This was what made Uchiha's feet stop completely. Naruto turned around in just the right time to see his surprised face.

"Fifty?! That's **20 kilometers**!"

Naruto couldn't help but grin at the raven's screaming. It was way too much fun to see him get worked up.

"Yeah, I know."

"There's no way anyone could finish all that!"

"Oh, thank God."

Shikamaru suddenly appeared from behind the Teme and bent over a bit to catch his breath.

"I thought no one was going to rest for about five more minutes."

"Shika, you would be resting within the first five minutes of running," Naruto laughed.

"Yeah, because his so-called 'warm-ups' are so damn tiring."

"And this man actually expects us to do all this?"

Hearing these questions from Uchiha was just hilarious.

"You think no one can," Shikamaru exhaled, "but that guy seems to do it."

His finger pointed out to the Mini-Me of Gai bouncing in one spot trying to get the other students motivated. And by the look on the Teme's face, it was a total mix of doubt and something along the lines of disgust.

"What's the matter, Naru-chan?" someone called out.

Naruto turned his head to see Kiba passing by and making a face at the blonde.

"Tired already?"

"Yeah, you wish!"

The challenge was on and Naruto sprinted to try and pass the messy brunette. Naruto could never back down from a challenge. It was one of his weak points, but he wasn't so ashamed of that. Needless to say both of them got tired and joined with the other two dark-haired boys to rest along with Haku and Gaara. It was also pretty obvious that no one else was able to finish the fifty laps, so everyone was to continue running tomorrow along with the other fifty laps and the other unfinished workouts. Oh joy.

~*~*~*~*~*

The rest of the day zoomed by pretty fast due to both Naruto and Uchiha being the watchful eyes of the other teachers that were warned of the two's behavior. But thankfully they weren't in all the same classes. Otherwise, the rest of the year was sure to be hell. The end of the day soon came by and Naruto was to return back to Tsunade's office.

"Hello, Naruto," greeted a woman's voice.

"Hi, Shizune-nee-san."

Shizune was a young woman with short dark hair and happened to be not only Tsunade's assistant, but also the head nurse (Tsunade would be since she has a medical degree, but she already took the position as principal). So not only does she work close with the blonde principal, but she also sees Naruto's face more than anyone else to the school. To Naruto, she's the most comical woman when she gets worried, and she gets worked up a lot, but is one of the sweetest people Naruto had ever known.

"I'm here to see Baa-chan again."

"You know she doesn't like to be called that."

"And she hasn't done anything to stop me yet!"

"Don't push your luck. You know you don't have that much."

Naruto gave a small laugh. He liked how they could joke around with one another.

"So anyway, can I go in to see her now?"

"Actually, she's already with another student right now, so you'll have to wait."

Someone _other_ than Naruto?

"Eh? Who is it? Is it Kiba? What about Ryu? Kazuma?"

"Actually, it's Uchiha-san."

Naruto couldn't help but go on about this piece of juicy info.

"Oh man! Really? What'd the Teme do?"

"First of all: Don't call other students those kinds of names. It's impolite. Second: He's not in trouble. Unlike you, some people just go Tsunade-sama's office just for some info or instructions. Understand?"

"Yes _mom_ I got it."

Shizune couldn't help but give a playful smile. The blonde was glad to have some adult friend like her that didn't always get on his case.

"Okay, so I have to go send a few papers off and return to the infirmary. Can you _try_ and behave for at least five minutes?"

"I don't know. We'll see if I can break any records."

She rolled her eyes and gave him a playful shove.

"Don't. I don't need Tsunade-sama to be mad at me anymore than usual."

The young student gave a small wave as the nurse left the small office.

....Time for mischief.

The blonde immediately jumped to the other side of the room and attached his ear to the door. It didn't take long to hear the voices of one bastard and one large-breasted woman from beyond the fine piece of wood.

"...problems like that, just report them to a teacher. They should be able to take care of that, alright?"

"That was Baa-chan," Naruto whispered to himself

"Yes, Tsunade."

"And there was the Teme."

"And," she continued. "Was everything in your other classes....manageable?"

There was a bit of a pause before Uchiha answered.

"Yes."

"I see."

A small laugh could be heard before the principal continued.

"So then. Do you remember the little bet I made earlier?"

Oh crap. Baa-chan was betting again. Everyone knew about her terrible luck at gambling and were ordered (by Shizune) not to take any bets with her or their career or grades would be on the line. It looks like Teme missed the memo.

"So tell me your _exactly_ thoughts on this school. I'm anxious to hear."

She better not have promised him perfect scores for the next three years or perfect attendance. If Naruto knew she was still making side bets, he would have done so many with her and gotten away with so many things.....Actually, he could still do that now.

But first things first. The young blonde had to hear what his opinion on the school was. After meeting Kakashi and Gai, this guy i_had_/i to have some kind of problems. However, neither he nor Tsunade were expecting this answer from the cold-hearted bastard.

"Manageable."

There was a long pause before Tsunade spoke.

"....Excuse me?"

"I said the school is manageable. I can see how some of the faculty is able to make this school standout more than any other school in its league, but I don't think it's something I will have trouble with. It will take some time for me to adjust, but after analyzing things from my first day, I don't think it will be something that I will struggle with too long."

.....What?

No, not his stupid explanation. The fact that he was able to handle the first day of school. Even Naruto's age group had to see the counselor for a week after they met their new teachers. So how the hell was the Teme able to go well with his first day as if it was another sunny day?

The door swung open with no warning and the blonde ended up flat on his face right in front of the pale boy's shoes. After regaining some feeling in his chin, Naruto raised his head to see _two_ annoyed expressions pointing in his direction. The blonde did what he would normally do in this sort of situation: scratch the back of his head and laugh off the tension.

But the response he got wasn't something he was looking for. Uchiha only walked around the blonde still on the floor and muttered "Dobe" before leaving the office. So Naruto quickly spun around and shouted the other name right back at the boy.

"Teme!"

The blonde boy was immediately rewarded with a smack across the back of his head and a very stern look from the busty woman.

"Language!"

The tan boy rubbed the sore spot on his head and turned so face the woman while still on the ground.

"English, Japanese, French, Chinese, Finnish, Italian, Spanish. Which one do you want? I only know one of them."

He was rewarded with a punch on the side of his head. The principal was never really a big fan of smartass comments. Plus, that woman hit **hard**!

"Don't go using those kinds of words around my school! I don't care if they're in another language, they're still not allowed!"

"Did you know 'bastard' in Australia is a term of endearment? What if an Australian kid came in the school and started calling everyone that even though he was being friendly?"

Tsunade was about to hit him again but the tan boy was quick enough to hide behind her desk.

"I don't have time for this today. I've got other things to deal with."

"Yes, because the tyranny of being school principal, wreaking havoc over hundreds of innocent children is such a busy job....I'm just joking! Don't hit me!"

Tsunade gave a long sigh while putting her deadly fist down.

"So what do you want, brat?"

Naruto gave a large grin to her question. Even as principal, there are times when even she has no class.

"I was wondering if you wanted to make a little deal with me-"

"No. I don't take bets anymore. I don't want to hear any more of Shizune's nagging."

That was a lie.

"Alright. How about this: Haku and Gaara bailed on me at the last minute. So, I was wondering if you're ready to go."

The red lips on the woman curved into a small smile before she spoke to the young boy.

"At least wait for the last bell to ring before you bother me with such things, kid."

Naruto couldn't help but let his grin get wider. Even under those comments, he could still feel the warmth and playfulness behind her words. She was one of the few out there that actually cared and looked out for Naruto.

So why couldn't Uchiha be like that?

* * *

So how did you like that chapter? Naru seems a bit upset about not getting along with Sasu. How sad!

And for those who didn't catch it, Naruto puts up the cute act. He KNOWS he's cute. :D

Sorry it was so long. I thought about splitting it up into two separate chapters, but if I did (at any part of the story) both chapters would just sound weird. I'm also sorry that in some places it may sound a bit....rushed. I felt it was dragging more than what I wanted it to be and really wanted to move onto the next chapter. But it still turned out okay. Right?

Like I said at the top, I won't be uploading as fast as I want to now that I'm in school. If you want a more up-tp-date status on what I'm working on (and how my life is right now), go visit my DevianArt page (link provided on my homepage). Plus, I have a few "fluff" stories if your interested in thigs without lemon. :P

Until Next Time!


	5. Can't Ever See It Coming

_**WARNING:** _Yes, this is in fact, a SasuNaru fanfic, meaning that it will contain **shounen-ai** moments, and even some heavy **smutty yaoi** scenes. If you are under the age of 17, dislike shounen-ai/yaoi, or do not like the pair Sasuke and Naruto or even not like Naruto as the uke in the relationship, then please close the browser now. Do NOT leave any rude comments or flames. Criticism is one thing, bashing my preferences is another.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto is responsible for "Naruto" and all Naruto-related characters, concepts and relationships. I only made up this particular story and the manipulation of Kishimoto's characters.

**P.S.** I spell "blond" with the extra "e" at the end (blonde). It may be a bit unusual to some, but it's not wrong. So don't tell me that it is.

* * *

A couple of days there at Konoha actually didn't kill Sasuke. Sure, it may have tortured him on the inside, but he sure as hell didn't let anyone see that, which annoyed the blonde a whole lot. It was Konoha! That alone should give people problems for days! And yet Sasuke's playing cool and acting like it's not upsetting him. So Naruto decided to make it his personal mission to try and make the level-headed raven break from the craziness.

It would have gone well if it didn't get him in so much trouble.

Okay, so plenty of the things he did were targeted only on the young Uchiha....._everything_ was targeted on him, but that was only to get something out of him! And the result from all of his annoyances, Naruto was rewarded with detention and the warning of not bullying the new student.

Really? Bullying? Everyone should know that the tan boy would never do such a thing to someone! It's just cowardly and stupid to constantly pick on one person over and over just to annoy them-

Wait? Is that the definition of bullying?

Damn.

Well, he sure as hell didn't mean to do that, the bullying that is. It's just that no one should hold such a façade with the other students and keep himself at such a distance. No matter how much of an ass that guy is, there should be some sign of a human underneath all that ice that is begging for some kind of human connection.

Now Sasuke would love to know why the little blonde brat keeps bothering him on an hourly basis. Honestly, Konoha was not as bad as everyone made it out to be. He just had to expect the unexpected here (which was most of the time). It was just one person that made it impossible. But that didn't mean other things in the school made him have a sudden urge to jump off the nearest cliff with joy. Upper classmen Rock Lee and the gym teacher Maighto Gai kept on about the stupid and impossible workout schedule for the students. It's not that Sasuke isn't the athletic type or the fact that he spent more time on his studies than other physical activities. It's just that those two made everything about PE unbearable and something along the lines of cruel and unusual punishment.

Then one fine morning where things took a real unexpected turn. Sasuke kept his head in his book one morning while the other students were busy socializing when the door to the classroom opened at exactly nine o'clock. A time that was never suppose to happen. And when that wasn't shocking enough, the silver-haired teacher made his presence in the classroom and stood in front of all his students. On time.

"Okay class," Kakashi started. "Today all students are required to take a mandatory test from the school district. But don't worry. It won't count for a grade, but please try and take it seriously."

He continued on about something about getting out of some kind of work for another week or something like that, but Sasuke was way too concerned about the fact that Kakashi was standing there in front of them, on time, and not having his face buried in some kind of erotic novel. He was even so shocked that he was about out act out of character and turn in his seat to ask the annoying ball of sunshine why their teacher was in the class. But Naruto decided to do something to not break Sasuke's stoic act and, once again, drew attention to himself.

The young Uchiha jerked forward from the unexpected screech behind him and suddenly dawned on him that the sound came from the blonde classmate. He barely looked up to see Naruto's hand extended over the raven's head and pointing at the said teacher in question.

"AHHHHHH! OH MY GOD!"

Sasuke's body was pushed forward as Naruto's other hand made its way to Sasuke's back and uses his body to support the blonde's. Uchiha would have growled if he wasn't still trying to register what the hell was going on.

"Kakashi-sensei! He's here! ON TIME!"

The screeching of the metal desk sliding against the classroom floor was heard as another body on the other side of the class shot up from his own seat.

"IT'S THE SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE!" Kiba added while pulling at his own hair.

A small group of other students decided to join in on the scream-fest as Naruto ran over to the nearest window and forced it open while shouting to the rest of the class.

"Quick everyone! To the bomb-shelters!"

He wouldn't. He can't. He did. The whiskered boy propped one foot on the windowsill and jumped out of the second-story classroom. Not following far behind was the brunette boy with a "Every man for himself!" and leaped out of the window as well. The other boys joining in on the prank, who looked like a lot of the people from the "Uke Club", and even a couple of other boys, made a B-line for the door on the other side of the class and before the raven knew it, about half of the class was already gone.

Silence filled the room as the students only looked at the two "emergency exits" or the teacher in front of the class. Sasuke looked out the window next to him and saw that somehow the two crazy boys who jumped didn't hurt themselves from the landing as they made a sprint around the corner of the school building. Sasuke only looked for a few more seconds before turning his head to the remaining people in the class for an answer to the, once again, abnormal behavior (according to people who don't attend this school). No one had an answer, and even a few people looked a bit shocked. From the corner of the Uchiha eye, he saw Shikamaru give a long silent sigh before resting his head on his hands. He could even see the small giggles coming from the slightly parted thin lips of the feminine boy, who he learned to be named Kawai Kohaku, or Haku for short (Ha-kun as Naruto's clever nickname), that originated from such a silly action by his friends.

Kakashi only gave a small groan while wearing an annoyed face as he looked out the window to where two of his most extreme students dared jump from such a dangerous place.

"I hate it when they do that," he muttered before continuing on with the instructions.

After a bit of time into the new assignment, a few of the students that ran off made their way back into the classroom and took their seats to begin on their new task. When only two students remained to return to the class, the door to the class swung open in a familiar way to reveal the one and only Hyuuga Neji and the two idiots in each of his clutches. He didn't set foot in the classroom but instead threw Kiba in by his collar and swung Naruto around shortly after to have both hit the floor hard on their rears.

"That hurt, ya know!" Kiba shouted to the older boy.

"You wouldn't really learn a lesson if there wasn't any pain behind it, now would you?" Neji retorted.

As the two boys rose from their spots, Naruto shot Hyuuga an ugly look before pitching in his own thoughts.

"How is it every time I do something stupid like this-"

Stupid is right.

"-you're always the one who catches me?"

A smile made its way to the lips of the older boy as he crossed his arms and leaned on the side of the door.

"I don't know," Neji started with a bit of teasing in his voice. "Why _do_ you keep running to me when you do something bad? Have a craving for _punishment_?"

There was such an obvious tone of seduction in his voice it made a blush creep its way onto the blonde's face and Kakashi remove his eye from his novel. Sasuke really question what was wrong with Hyuuga if he was actually interested in someone like Naruto. Maybe it was just teasing, but it seemed a bit too real if it was. Sasuke chose to ignore the rest of the little performance in front of the class the same time Hyuuga decided to dismiss himself and continue on with his test. A few mumbles were heard between the two troublemakers and the teacher before he heard footsteps approaching his desk and stopping not a few inches away. The young raven dared to look up from his work to see Naruto giving him that same look of disgust since the first day they met and started on the wrong foot. After a bit of glaring, Naruto decided to ask the question that would get Sasuke to stop glaring.

"What are you looking at?"

Sasuke, as predicted, turned his head back to his work, but not before giving another daily insult.

"Not much."

Sasuke felt two pains in his body. His hand and his head. It took a bit for him to register that in the moment he insulted the blonde boy, his head was pushed down so his forehead would make contact with the desk. Instead, his hand was directly underneath and so that's where the Uchiha's head made its landing. Of course Sasuke wasn't amused by any of it, nor fond of the suddenly sour mood Uzumaki was in, so the same aching hand made payback by connecting itself with Naruto's stomach. Not long afterwards did a fight break out between the two, not the first fight they had but the first that actually had their fists involved, and this certainly wouldn't be their last.

Nor would it be the last time he interacts with Naruto.

The whole escort thing was only for a day, so why did the raven have to see Naruto in his face every time he turned his head? And it didn't take much for Sasuke to see that Naruto was trying to get underneath his skin, but Uchihas don't give into threats that easily. And there was no way he was going to give into some little blonde idiot. Thankfully, someone else noticed what he was doing and rewarded him with detention from time to time. That should teach him a lesson.

So why the hell was he still sticking to him like glue?

After getting numerous counts of detention, Sasuke seemed to be seeing Naruto every minute of the day. Why the hell was that?! Oh, right. Apparently Kiba and Shikamaru decided to associate themselves with Sasuke more, and since they were goods friends with the blonde, he seemed to be seeing more of the blonde, redhead and feminine boy every day.

"You're having onigiri _again_?"

This also counted for lunches.

"Yes," the raven responded. "You got a problem with that?"

"That's the third time this week."

"And your continuous consumption of ramen is better because?"

Somewhere along the line where the blonde kept appearing, he mentally decided that eating lunch with the raven was perfectly okay as well. And when he dubbed it to be safe, Haku and Gaara invited themselves to eat with Sasuke, Kiba and Shikamaru as well. Normally the raven boy would tell them to get lost or just find his own eating place. But because Naruto was, well...Naruto, neither plan would seem to work, so he gave up before he even started. Besides, one good thing came out of the blonde eating lunch with him so often.

Not going to say what...

"Because ramen is the best thing to ever be invented and anyone who denies such a fact should be castrated."

A nice little useless fact that Sasuke learned was that Naruto loved ramen. A lot. A _whole_ lot. With as much salt there was in those things, the pale boy was sure that he was taking more than the lethal dose. And yet he was still there.

Naruto got to learn a little bit about the new student. For instance, he was a health freak. He just wouldn't let anything unhealthy touch his lips nor be in his precious eyesight. It was so damn annoying! If ramen were a god, Sasuke would have died long ago. That, and Naruto would be up on some magical golden throne right up there laughing at the pale boy as he burned and sizzled. All the while eating a bowl of ramen, of course.

Second, he hated contact. Fine by Naruto! He didn't want to be anywhere near that guy anyway. Well, now was an exception just because he wanted to get some reaction out of the new kid. And all contact included speech. Naruto loved to tell everyone everything he knew about the situation, so his mouth would go a mile a minute. But Sasuke always preferred to use one word to answer all questions. Actually, it wasn't even a word. It was more like a noise. Apparently it was a word in the Uchiha book but in no dictionary Naruto knew about. And despite Naruto always reminding Sasuke about that nonexistent word, the dark-haired boy always retorted with that same noise. He was probably doing it just to annoy him.

All the while Naruto was holding a one-sided argument with the monosyllable boy, the shaggy-haired brunette continued staring at the blonde before breaking the "peace."

"Okay, I'll just come out and say it," Kiba stated. "Naruto. Are you getting it on with the principal?"

At that exact moment everyone at the table had their own reaction to the question. Shikamaru fell out of his sleepy state, Gaara's eyes opened unusually wide, and Haku (wearing his school-girl uniform that day) spat out the juice he was drinking right into Sasuke's face, who was coincidentally sitting right across from the feminine boy. It would have been hilarious for Naruto if not for the fact that he was choking on the roll he just took a large bite out of. Kiba only looked in disbelief at everyone's reaction.

"What?!" Kiba asked.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Sasuke-kun!"

Haku grabbed the napkin next to his plate and reached over the table to wipe the raven haired boy's face. After Naruto punched his own chest a couple of times, Gaara uncrossed his arms and slapped the blonde's back so a piece of the food flew over the table and onto the floor. Akamaru took it upon himself to take the free piece of food and ate it as soon as it touched the ground.

"Akamaru! That's sick!" Kiba exclaimed.

"You're telling me," Naruto agreed while pushing his plate away. "I'm done."

"Me too," Shikamaru imitated.

"Same here," Gaara said.

"Kawa-," Sasuke stuttered through the paper over his mouth.

Sasuke couldn't get himself to say such a name to someone like Haku since it was so similar to another word in a different language. Though it was a bit embarrassing for him to say the other name as if he was close. Even so, he chose not to use the surname.

"Kohaku. I'm fine. You can stop."

"Not yet! There's still some on your face and in your hair. I'm so sorry!"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about, dog-breath?!" the blonde seemed to shout twice as loud as normal.

"Dude! It's just a rumor!" Kiba tried to defend.

"And that's just what it is! A rumor!"

"I was just trying to confirm it. No! I mean just trying to prove it was false!"

"Like hell you were!"

"You say this as if I started it!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did!"

At this point, the brunette and blonde shot up from their seats and decided to take their argument to a higher noise level.

"You callin' me a liar, Uzumaki?!"

"Wouldn't put it past you, Inuzuka!"

"Listen hear, you stupid fox!"

"What was that, you damn dirty dog?!"

"Uh….guys?"

Shikamaru's hand waved in front of the boys faces to point them to what was a bigger deal than their shouting. _Everyone_ in the entire cafeteria, every boy and lunch person, stood perfectly still and had their eyes focused on their table. As soon as this embarrassing moment sank into the members of the table, the young Uchiha took a firm grasp on Haku's still hand. His dark coal eyes only met with the cocoa ones in front of him for a split second before blinking and turning down to the slightly moist table in front of him.

"I'm fine," he whispered. "Really…."

As the elegant boy's hand slowly dropped to his lap, the two obnoxiously loud students sank down to their seats trying to laugh off what was only another awkwardly embarrassing moment for them.

"Just what are you trying to get at, dog-breath?" Naruto continued in a lower voice so only the people at his table could hear.

"I was just asking that because a lot of people have been talking about you two. You guys seem pretty….'chummy' from time to time. Like you two spend too much time together."

"Yeah, and whose fault do you think that is?"

"Hey! You get into as much trouble as I do."

"_More_ trouble than you do! Why? Why don't we take that morning where you so eagerly _lied_ to Hyuuga to get me in trouble for something _you_ did?"

"Because you're friendlier with Tsunade than I am."

"Once again: Whose fault do you think that is?!"

"Volume, Dobe."

The glare from the azure eyes immediately shot from the brunette in front of him to the black-haired boy sitting right next to Kiba. Sasuke only matched the blonde's glare with a glare of his own as he slowly wiped the remains of the earlier spit-take from his hair. After a bit of silence, Sasuke spoke again in a lower than normal voice.

"You can glare all you want, Uzumaki, but you won't win this little staring contest."

Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit and let a low growl rise in the back of his throat.

"Teme."

"Dobe."

The other members of the table only watched in silence as the two dueled with their eyes. Unlike any other day, Sasuke was in a bit of a worse mood when hanging around Naruto. Everyone knew it was from that morning, but whenever they asked Sasuke what put in him in such a sour mood, he would completely ignore the question and leave with the question unanswered and people even more curious than before. But the reason Sasuke wouldn't utter a word is because the situation was far too embarrassing for him to even replay in his head. Much worse than calling Haku by his surname.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The day started off like any other unusual day at Konoha except that there was an assembly that the student body had to attend. Everyone was called to sit with their class and in their same seating order, so of course Sasuke was still sitting next to Naruto during the assembly. The school counselor, Umino Iruka, was on the stage talking to the students about what to do for their futures or something else no one ever needed to hear about. He seemed like a nice guy too. Brunette hair tied back into a ponytail and he had a very warm smile along with dark brown eyes, though nowhere near- never mind. The scar on his face raised questions to why someone like him could have such a thing, but he politely asks others not to ask such a question and so the students respect his request. That doesn't mean that rumors stop flying around the school.

So all while Iruka gives the long and boring presentation, the students around the auditorium begin to fall asleep. Of course with Sasuke trying to be the better student tries to sit up straight and pay attention, but the speech was so incredibly dull that he only put up the image that he was listening. In the meantime, he tried to look around the place, without moving his head, to observe the other students and how they were fairing with the difficult task of staying awake. Shikamaru was out of it the moment his butt hit the seat. Kiba gave a very loud yawn sometime when Iruka had a long stream of words said to the students. Other boys were dozing off and pinching others to stay awake since they feared whatever punishment laid waiting after the speech. He turned his vision a bit more to lay his jet-black eyes on the feminine boy a few rows ahead of him. His head was bobbing up and down as he was trying his best to stay awake and listen to the teacher on stage. His vision turned some more to look further down the row and see Gaara was just sitting in his seat with his arms crossed and looking straight ahead with what it looks like without blinking. It was a bit creepy, but maybe he was actually asleep with his eyes open.

Before Sasuke could try and scan the area for the Hyuuga student, he felt a bit of warmth on his neck and slight pressure on his shoulder.

Oh no.

Sasuke closed his eyes and made a small prayer to whatever deity was watching this stupid situation.

He didn't.

The raven turned his head just a bit to hopefully not see what he thinks is there. But the laws of the world don't bend to his whim whenever he is in the boundaries of Konoha, so of course this would happen.

Uzumaki Naruto, thanks to both his and Sasuke's surnames, was resting peacefully on the shoulder of the Uchiha boy.

He did.

As many invisible daggers Sasuke was shooting into the head of the blonde boy, none of them had effect to make the boy wake up and apologize to the raven boy by kissing his feet and offering himself up to be his slave for a year. That would be really nice. But he was Naruto, so that wouldn't happen even if a dagger hit him in the right spot.

Sasuke tried to shrug his shoulder to get Naruto off, but either his head didn't move or he readjusted himself so he could get more comfortable. Such a touching scene was really starting to piss Sasuke off. So when all other attempts failed, he jabbed a pale finger hard into Naruto to get him to stir.

"Get up, Dobe!" he whispered.

After a poke or two, Naruto's head rose from Sasuke's shoulder and looked around his surroundings in a bit of a daze.

"Wake up and get the hell off my shoulder!"

Immediately, the blonde head spun around to look at the source of the violent hissing in his direction. But the look on his face made Sasuke jump back (in the slightest bit). Unlike any other time you see the blonde, his eyes were narrowed and he had a dark and violent look on his face. His bright, cerulean eyes didn't look like they normally do anymore as he glared Sasuke down with a look that actually rivaled that of an Uchiha. Sasuke figured that Naruto wasn't a morning person and was just grouchy, so he didn't let the glare faze him as he gave one of his own to the sleepy boy.

"God, you're annoying," Naruto said in a surprisingly dark tone.

Before Sasuke could give any retaliation, he felt something that he never expected to come, something that had never happened in his entire 15-year life. And he never expected for it to happen, out of places, out of all times, at that place and that moment.

The blue eyes were covered with tan eyelids and the fringe of the short, blonde hair tickled the bridge of Sasuke's nose. Naruto had, in a matter of seconds, moved from his comfortable sleeping position on Sasuke's shoulders and had attached his lips to the Uchiha's pair. Naruto's lips were warm and a bit plump for a boy and felt very soft against Sasuke's. About three seconds of contact, the blonde pulled back and looked Sasuke in the eye with the same dark expression as before.

"This is boring and you're annoying. Now that you shut up, just let me get some sleep."

And with that, Naruto found his previous sleeping position and drifted himself back to sleep. Nothing else was done.

Sasuke was speechless. He was dumbstruck.

Out of all the people in the world, it was Naruto. Sasuke wasn't mad that it was a boy, wait. Yes he was. But it wasn't just that. It was Naruto. i_Naruto_/i. Uzumaki i_fucking_/i Naruto who did that to him! He stole his first kiss! It could have been anyone else in the world! Hell, it could have been Haku! Sasuke wouldn't have minded finding out just how soft, how warm those beautiful lips felt against his own if they were to actually make contact with one another, despite how unlikely that would be! To hear Haku said that he was nervous since he had never done this before in his life! That he was glad to share such a special moment with Sasuke! But NO! Naruto! He had to go and ruin it all! All because of his lazy habits and his irresponsibility to sleep at home like he was suppose to!

Sasuke let his eyes slowly drift over to the blonde leaning on his shoulder. He saw the way his lips were partially open and saw the subtle rise and fall of his chest as he softly snored where Iruka's speech drowned out the soft noises. How the tan skin had a faint glow from the auditorium lights. The way the golden hair, despite how short it was, draped over the eyes and settled very nicely on his gentle face. And especially how he snuggled more into the nape of Sasuke's neck to get himself further into the dream world.

It was settled.

Naruto was going to die.

The whole room grew quiet as Sasuke launched himself from his chair, grabbed Naruto by his shirt collar and violently shook the smaller boy as he shouted in his face with death threats.

"You son of a bitch! You fucking moron! I'll kill you right now, Usuratonkachi!"

"Whoa! Wha-! What the hell is going on!"

"You're fucking dead, Uzumaki!"

And with that, two punches landed against Naruto as one landed against Sasuke's face before they went into another brawl with students cheering in the background and the teachers of the school trying to find a way to get in and break it up.

It didn't take long before the two boys, covered in bruises, to be dragged into the principal's office and had to explain themselves to the large-breasted woman.

"Well?" she asked in an angry tone in an arched eyebrow.

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed. "It's nothing."

"NOTHING!"

Leave it to Naruto to make the situation worse.

"What the hell do you mean nothing! You freakin' woke me up and started punching the living daylights out of me and you're going to say it was all for nothing?! Yeah, sure I fell asleep! Let a teacher yell at me for that! If I fell asleep on you, then just shake me awake! Not go all out and-"

Sasuke was very tempted to beat him again right in front of the principal. Naruto wanted to find the real reason behind it, but Sasuke wanted to keep it hidden. There was no way he was going to admit the reason behind his anger was something that sounded so girly and so stupid that his perfect image would be shot down in a matter of seconds. And if Naruto found out, then the reason would be spread by his big mouth in even less time than that. So no matter how many times the principal demanded the answer or how much Naruto shouted in his ear, Sasuke kept his mouth shut and just awaited whatever punishment he deserved.

~*~*~*~*~*~

So there was Sasuke giving the blonde student the ugliest look he had ever given anyone. Ever. Naruto may have been affected by it, but his pride wouldn't let him back down, so he mustered up all the hatred he could of the pale boy and gave a glare saying he wouldn't stand down no matter what. Of course between the two most stubborn boys ever.

When the air became thick enough with tension, Haku gave a small cough and stood up from his seat at the table.

"Well, this has been…" he paused a bit for finding the right words to say. "…interesting, but I've got to go for the rest of the period."

"Why's that?" Kiba asked, turning away from the boy's glaring contest. "Going to see your boyfriend?"

Naruto blinked, being the first to turn away and looked at Haku with curious eyes.

"Wait. You have a boyfriend?"

The long-haired beauty gave a small giggle and brought a finger to her lips, as if to hush the others, while giving a win with one of his chocolate-colored eyes.

"It's a secret."

Leaving only that, he stepped from his seat, gathered his trash, and made a very graceful exit from the cafeteria, leaving the other boys speechless.

While the other boys went ahead and talked amongst themselves, Sasuke only sat in his seat with some known feeling. 'Since when did Haku have a boyfriend?' he thought. 'And why didn't he tell anyone else about it? Weren't he and Naruto close? So why didn't Naruto know? Was it a "forbidden love"?'

"So _that_ rumor was true!" Kiba announced.

"There was a rumor about that?" Shikamaru asked.

'But then again, he said it was a secret. So it can't be completely true, right? That he's just putting up an image so people would back off? Or maybe, maybe for people to be more attracted to him? If that were the case, would I still have a cha-'

Sasuke put on the emergency brakes for that train of thought.

"And she's got long pretty pink hair! It looks like bubble gum!"

There was no way he had feelings for the cross dresser! Despite how he may look and act, Haku was still a boy! And that wouldn't look good on Uchiha's image, no matter what! If only he was a girl, then things would be different. Haku wouldn't be like any other crazed, obsessing female he met in his life. He had the wonderful, gentle personality and the beauty, what with the long, black hair draped over his shoulders and the deep cocoa eyes-

"I wish I could see those awesome green eyes again.~"

Sasuke buried his head in one of his hands and gave a loud groan, enough for the other boys at the table to hear. Wonderful. No matter how Sasuke looked at it, even with Haku being the same gender as him, the boy was the Uchiha's type. No other way around it. And he was jealous. If Haku dressed as a girl, then he would have no problem dating another guy. But he was already taken, even if that was not necessarily true. And if it was, and Sasuke cracked and asked Haku out and he was shot down, then it would look bad for him. Being turned down for a date and being turned down by a boy. It would probably look bad for him if he _did_ go on a date with him. All of the reasoning was giving Sasuke a major headache.

"You groan just like Shikamaru as if he was about to take a test, Teme" Naruto joked.

The comment was ignored by said boy due to laziness or maturity. It was hard to tell.

"So what? You're saying that you don't have anyone you like?" Naruto questioned the pale boy.

Sasuke raked his hand through his hair before giving up on his lost love and answering.

"No," he lied.

But with such frustration in his voice, no one bother to question it.

"So you're saying that you _never_ had problems with any girls?"

"What about that crazy math teher that broke into your home?" Kiba interrupted.

"Don't remind me," Sasuke growled.

Naruto gave a quick look to the raven across from him, then to the brunette sitting next to Sasuke.

"A wha- there was a- Where the hell do you here all these stupid rumors, Inuzuka?"

He only gave a casual shrug before answering.

"Akamaru."

"That's so sad since I actually buy that," Shikamaru commented.

"You did not," the blonde protested against Sasuke.

"I didn't do what? That doesn't make any sense," the raven retorted.

"So this woman 'Trig Ami' decided to leave her husband and drop her career just so she could hook up with a 15-year-old. I say you've got serious issues with women, Uchiha."

Naruto only propped his elbow on the table and rested his head in his hand as he gave Sasuke a very questionable look.

"Yeah right. That's probably just a rumor. You're not that hot."

"Then why the fuck did you kiss me?!" is what he wanted to shout.

But Sasuke blood pressure was probably too high to argue and his body ached enough from the fight earlier, so he only silently excused himself from the table before walking out of the cafeteria.

"Hey! Don't run away, Teme! We're not done here!"

Just when Naruto was about to throw out a string of insults, a hand grabbed Naruto by his arm and dragged him off to the opposite direction. Apparently Gaara, who was technically still there, decided to stop the fight before it even began. The two remaining boys only looked at each other before deciding not to look any further into anything that had happened so far and finished their lunches before heading to their next class.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The day had ended as Sasuke was collecting the last of his books and papers before heading out of the insanity building the others dubbed as school. Since he was a bit thrown off by the confirmation of Haku's rumor, he didn't notice as he took a wrong turn down a hallway and ended up in a part he was unfamiliar with. Breaking out of his daze, he saw a group of boys gathered at one spot and low murmurs between them, all holding a tone of excitement if not more than the last.

Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Sasuke walked further down the hall instead of turning around and made his way to the group of boys trying to get a better look. He found them to be the same as Sasuke (all non-Ukes) and varying in grade level. When a few of the boys notice the new student making his presence, they opened the group for him to get a better look at what the commotion was about.

There on the floor was a boy, most likely a third-year, gathering money and handing out envelopes to the other boys around. When he finally took notice of the young Uchiha, a wicked grin slid across his face before welcoming Sasuke with open arms.

"So you finally made your way down here, huh Uchiha?"

He remained silent as he let the older student continue.

"I'm the best in the business, so it's right that you came directly to me."

The other boys around the newcomer began to snicker, but Sasuke only ignored them.

"So I bet you want a few good shots don'tcha? I know you want some of the "Uke Club" members, yeah?"

Sasuke's face turned to disgust as the boy shuffled through a box filled with photos.

"But seeing how close you are with their prez, vice, and secretary, I bet you want to see their personal sides, right?"

In completing his sentence, the boy pulled out from the box three different pictures of the three boys. One of a picture of Gaara sitting on a bench in his summer uniform while eating a cookie. The middle picture consisted of Naruto sleeping soundly in the grass with a close up on his face so you can see every detail including the bit of drool hanging out and the whisker-like marks on his face. And the final picture had Haku changing out of his pink girl uniform with his shirt covering his bare chest. Obviously the picture was caught by the young boy's surprise, so his face was filled with shock and a deep red color.

As much as the third picture caught his attention, Sasuke wouldn't just cave into some undignified action as buying those kinds of pictures. Trying to play off his interest and without taking his eyes off of Haku's photo, he spoke in a way that matched the mood on his face: disgusted.

"And why the hell would I want such a thing? What the hell am I suppose to do with it?"

The older boy smiled in such a creepy way that matched the other surrounding boys that the shiver that ran through the young Uchiha's body made his eye twitch in annoyance.

"Jerk off."

Not even after a minute was the entire sleazy stand and the hallway filled with lifeless bodies and the pictures of the other boys covered in spots of blood. Sasuke marched his way down the halls and to his locker in the loudest way that displayed as much anger he could muster since the day he set foot in the school. The teachers, the students, Sasuke's now ambiguous sexual orientation. All of it was just trying to drive him crazy and guess what: it was working. While violently putting on his winter gear and pushing his way past a few students, Sasuke made his way home and buried his head in as much homework as he could to try and forget about the eternally damned place he was forced to go to the next day.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Bright azure eyes were fixed on a picture of a pale, raven haired boy raking one of his hands through his dark hair as his midnight-black eyes were focused on the book seated at his desk. The eyes of the second-year holding the picture let his eyes examine the blonde in front of him, taking note of every shape and curve that was present on the tan body, minus the bumps and bruises from that morning.

"So?" the boy asked in a semi-seductive tone. "What do ya' think? You wanna buy one? Or maybe a dozen?"

The picture was suddenly snatched the unknown boy's hand and ripped in pieces in front of him and every other boy there. Many gasped and there were a few shouts, but the rest of them remained silent as Naruto wiped his hands of the pieces as if they were some deadly germ. Gaara only stood silently and looked at his blonde friend while Haku nervously brought his thumb to his lips.

"Let's get one thing straight, you pervert!"

Naruto put a fist on his hip and pointed a finger at the photo dealer as he shouted for every boy in the classroom to hear.

"If I liked a person, I'm not gonna be a coward about it and buy some stupid picture from someone who was stalking the one I liked! If I wanna picture from them, it's gonna be by me _after_ I went up and asked them out myself! I ain't gonna wait for them to get away from me!"

He suddenly reached forward and grabbed the boy by his shirt collar and yanked him forward, inches away from the tan face so he could get another ear load of Naruto's opinion.

"But more importantly: I. Don't. Like. Uchiha. _Got it_?! I hate the guy and hate seeing his overpriced, pale-ass face! Don't ever go up to me and ask if I want his picture again! _**Got it**_?!"

Before the threatened boy could give an answer, Naruto had already pushed him out of his way as he grabbed his book bag and stomped his way out of the classroom with Gaara and Haku not far behind. But before he made his way out of that hallway, he threw his hands in the air and shouted for the whole school to hear.

"And if I ever say 'I love you' to Uchiha, someone tase me in the back of the neck!"

* * *

And so Sasuke starts to be affected by what's going on in Konoha. But he made some new aquantiances, a new enemy, and finally gave into his feelings and admitted he liked Haku!....wait.

Bad news: School is starting back up again. I know I've always been slow with updates so.....actually, this shouldn't affect how I update things. I guess things will be going just as slow .

OTL

Well, I hoped you enjoy and wait for me on the next chapter! Be sure to look at my other works and see my deviantART page as well!

-State Kunoichi


	6. The Devil Himself

_**WARNING:** _Yes, this is in fact, a SasuNaru fanfic, meaning that it will contain **shounen-ai** moments, and even some heavy **smutty yaoi** scenes. If you are under the age of 17, dislike shounen-ai/yaoi, or do not like the pair Sasuke and Naruto or even not like Naruto as the uke in the relationship, then please close the browser now. Do NOT leave any rude comments or flames. Criticism is one thing, bashing my preferences is another.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto is responsible for "Naruto" and all Naruto-related characters, concepts and relationships. I only made up this particular story and the manipulation of Kishimoto's characters.

**P.S.** I spell "blond" with the extra "e" at the end (blonde). It may be a bit unusual to some, but it's not wrong. So don't tell me that it is.

* * *

**PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE BEFORE YOU CONTINUE WITH THE STORY**: I know I shouldn't let what others say get to me, but when it's been a really hard month, the little things do tend to have an impact on my life. Mainly, it's whats going on here.

So how many of you guys are with the first person you ever liked. EVER. I mean, the very first person you **ever** had a crush on and you're in a very healthy relationship with them right now. That you absolutely have no eyes for anyone else and you plan to be with them the rest of your life? And none of that wishful thinking preteens have with their boy/girlfriend. I mean, you think rationally and you know, with that mature mindset, that you and your significant other will make it in the world if you two stay together.

There should be no one saying yes. If there are some, then your either a fucking liar or one of the very rare few. But even so, you're probably lying and don't even know about it.

Come on, people. The world isn't perfect and neither are relationships. You may _think_ that or _hope_ that it is, but in reality, that's not true. So why can't stories, even SasuNaruSasu ones, be a bit more realistic? Even in the original "Naruto" series, Naruto had always claimed his love for Sakura, and even in a recent manga chapter he did say so with even more certainty than he did as a preteen. So if he really loves Sasuke more, then what? You just forget the whole pre-time skip and that chapter and pretend it never happened? Are you really that blinded by your own wishful thinking that you can't see any other way of those two getting together than in the way of a 12-year-old girl's thought process of romance?

_PLEASE._

The whole Naruto being a complete submissive Uke gets old after a while, seeing how that's not in his nature at all. And the whole perfect SasukexNaruto relationship gets old, too.

And on that same note of not getting together with your first love: Yes, there is some SasuHaku in this story. But guess what? **_SasuNaru_** is in the goddam freakin' title of this thing. It's gonna happen! So Sasuke likes someone else before Naruto. It happens in a whole bunch of other stories. Why should it not be in mine? Which, by the way, this is **_MY_** story, not _yours_! Go write your own very predictable lovey-dovey, everything's perfect SasuNaru story if you want that. Don't yell at me since the story isn't going your way. And there is a line between criticism and opinions vs flames. It's one thing to say: _"NO! Sasuke should like Naruto, not Haku! Go to Naruto, Sasuke-bastard!"_ or _"I wasn't expecting Sasuke to go and fall for Haku. But it will be alright since he'll eventually go to Naruto, right?"_ Not: _"You really should put a SasuHaku warning up because I wasn't prepared for that. You're really making a bad story when pairing him with Haku instead of Naruto"_ or _"I'm gonna flame you even though it's rude. Why? Because you're pairing Sasuke and Haku together! Not Sasuke and Naruto! If you put that this is gonna be a SasuNaru story, then follow the goddam rules!" _Flaming sure as hell isn't going to change this story. It's just a waste of time and makes you sound like a bitch.

I'm sorry for the long header/not before the story, along with the heavy language, but I'm getting real sick of the overlysensitive ones out there since they can't take my sense of humor or not like how the story isn't going the way they want it to. You don't like any of it? Then quit reading and go somewhere else. I don't want to hear your complaints and I don't care if I lose a bunch of readers because of it. Learn to grow up and tolerate the things and people around you. Or remain a stupid child. It's your choice.

Now enjoy the following.

* * *

Haku took the pale hand into his own as he ran down the hallway with Sasuke trailing behind. Taking a quick look around, the smaller boy opened the door to the classroom and pulled the taller one in after making sure that it was empty first. Once inside, the effeminate boy led Sasuke to a student's desk and positioned him in between skirt-covered legs as Haku sat himself on the desk. His small arms snaked their way around the pale boy's waits and brought him closer to where the Uchiha had to lean his hands on the desk behind Haku to keep himself balanced.

Their eyes closed as both of their mouths joined together in a long kiss. Nothing deep. Just the surfaces were touching. Sasuke leaned more into the intimate union of their lips as Haku's arms removed themselves from the waist and wrapped themselves around Sasuke's neck. After a bit of time, the two boys leaned back from the soft touch and looked deeply into each other's eyes. As intense as this moment was suppose to be, Sasuke couldn't find anything in the feminine boy's eyes. Like he was there, but something was missing. As if those brown orbs were lifeless when looking at him.

Those unsure thoughts slowly slipped away as he felt his hand being removed from the desk and onto the thin waits of the boy below him. He saw Haku's hand attached to his, gently guiding it over Haku's body, slowly moving along his upper thigh until it touched the edge of the gray skirt. Sasuke was unsure of what to do next. Well, he i_was_/i sure, but he didn't think it was appropriate if the other boy wasn't comfortable with it, so he let Haku continue the ministration. The larger hand was lead further and further underneath the thin piece of clothing until it met with the hem of what Sasuke suspected as the panties.

"It's okay," came a soft but seductive whisper.

Sasuke didn't look up to those empty brown eyes as he watched his hand being removed from the leg and guided to the small exposed skin that was right under the shirt. Jet-black eyes widened as his hand was led further up, barely touching the soft skin as he sensed warm breaths getting closer to his ear.

"Touch me."

Higher and higher did Sasuke's hand climb until he snapped his eyes shut. Haku was giving himself to him, so willingly and so very soon. Sasuke couldn't believe how far he was getting with the person he was dreaming about for weeks now, longing to touch his lips, see his smiles, hear him begging for him. But to beg for i_this_i, like this, in this place…this is why…

This was why…

This was exactly why Sasuke hated dreaming.

There he was, lying in his bed, "pitching a tent" as they say, and damning his subconscious to the bloodiest bowels of the lowest circle of Hell. He never kept those kinds of thoughts in his mind when he was awake. It was always in his sleep that his mind would wander to such inappropriate places. That's why he would force himself to go to bed late, doing whatever small tasks that could be done in his home, and waking up early the next morning, despite him not being a morning person. At all. But this painful procedure guaranteed him that he wouldn't dream in the night, especially ones about his classmate and how he would willingly undress himself for the young raven….

So there Sasuke was, stomping down the sidewalk to his school, muttering curses under his breath to the sandman or whoever the hell was responsible for not only the stupid dreams, but for putting him to sleep much sooner than he ever wanted. He needed to take some steam off and get somebody for this. Naruto was always a great stress reliever. But for the past few days, the principal had had enough of their random fighting and ordered each of them to go to the school counselor, Iruka, to put an end to it.

But Uchihas didn't need counseling, which was a step below from help from a psychiatrist, which all meant that an Uchiha was struggling and Uchihas don't struggle. But as much protests as Sasuke put in, they were all denied and he was threatened with detention. His argument probably would have gone better if not for the blonde idiot yelling at the top of his lungs. Negotiations go better when there is no distraction, and boy was the Dobe a distraction.

Iruka was nice, no question about it, but Sasuke had no respect for him since he was trying to force the young raven to say he had a problem, which he didn't. Sasuke tried being silent the whole time, not answering any questions or participating in any activities. But Iruka stated that if he didn't participate, then the whole thing would go much longer than needed or desired. And with that being the major fact and reason, Sasuke finally cracked and began talking.

Naruto was a pain. He was loud, arrogant, a troublemaking prankster, and above all, an idiot. Ever since day one did the blonde become a bother for him. But no matter how many complaints Sasuke put in, Iruka would always turn around and say a compliment about Naruto. Figures. He knew Naruto from the past years as well as many of the other faculty members, so all this did was make Uchiha look like the enemy. So with these factors in mind, Sasuke had no choice but to make peace with the boy, despite how much he really didn't want to. But if he were to survive the rest of his time at that school, then he needed to get past his biggest obstacle: Naruto.

As the days were rolling into February, the ice-cold air didn't seem to be getting any warmer. Sasuke was never a fan of the cold. He always preferred the warmer places and months of the years, always fascinated with the abilities and tricks of fire rather than the dull and death-relating images or ice and winter. He despised the cold as much as mornings, but both had to be dealt with nonetheless. So along with walking up early in the morning from an unwanted dream, the freezing cold air nipping at his exposed and pale skin and the fact that he can't use his blonde punching bag, saying Sasuke was in a bad mood would be the understatement of the year.

As he was putting out more curses on the unknown beings around him, he heard a very soft noise coming from behind him. The first thing his mind told him to do was to keep walking and don't even bother to look. But then the nagging voice inside of him was telling him that no matter what, in some terrible twist of fate, he would be involved in it in some way, so he might as well see what he was dealing with. The young Uchiha took a deep breath, letting the cold air burn the inside of his throat, and let it out mixed with a low groan before turning around and narrowing his eyes to whatever may be bothering him in the next few moments.

Who else could it be? You're given three guesses and the first two don't count.

Of COURSE it had to be, of all the billions of people in the world, of all the millions of people in the country, and thousands of people in the city, Naruto. Uzumaki fucking Naruto. Sasuke swore that he was really the devil, or at least Sasuke's personal devil, covered in the skin of an innocent-looking boy. He was probably also the reason for Sasuke's weird dreams. It had to be possible since he was the source of all of Sasuke's pain. Had to be.

So there he was, running down the sidewalk like a lunatic, arms flailing around and him screaming his lungs out. What could _possibly_ be going on this time?

Well, how about the rather large dog chasing him at top speed. Oh, and of course he spots Sasuke and starts heading in his direction. Though the raven couldn't remember ever saying:

"Oh hey Uzumaki. What'cha up to? Being chased by a very large dog that could possibly have rabies and is out to get whoever's moving? Do you mind if I join you? It's not like we have school to go to or anything."

Though by the end of the day, he would clearly remember what he was screaming at him while turning at every block to try and shake the dog off:

"You goddam freakin' Usuratonkachi! You are such a fucking idiot for drag me along your stupid, idiotic pranks you fucking Dobe!"

Turning a corner, Naruto decided to respond in between breaths.

"I don't think any swearing is going to do us any good! Plus, what makes you think this is my fault?!"

"Because you're YOU! It _has_ to be your fault!"

"Somehow, I feel like I heard that before."

Naruto turned his head back just enough to see the large black dog closing in on them several feet away. Ignoring the air scratching the inside of his throat, Naruto took his screaming up a level.

"But it's Kakashi-sensei's dog! Why the hell am I always blamed for this?!"

That was it. Sasuke planted both feet on the ground putting him at a full halt while grabbing the blonde boy's wrist. With the momentum, the raven spun him around so their noses were only inches away from each other when he hissed out what could have been a great imitation of a pissed off snake.

"This is _Kakashi's_ dog?! You mean that thing is _trained_ and _owned_ by someone and you're being _chased_ by it?!"

"Uchiha! Uchiha! He's getting closer! Let go!"

"Hell no!"

Sasuke spun the boy around and held him out at arm's length between him and the charging dog.

"This is _your_ problem, _your_ fault! You fucking deal with it!"

As much as the younger boy struggled, the young Uchiha was determined to keep him in place until the stupid mutt made contact with him. Maybe if he was lucky, the dog would rip the blonde into shreds and all of his problems would finally be solved. Oh, one could only hope. What he didn't take into account was the dog being so much bigger up close tan far away and the fact that he seemed to speed up when he was only a few meters away. The raven couldn't let go of his meat-shield in time to get away before both bodies were tackled to the ground. Fearing that Uzumaki blood would be all over his clothes and he would be the prime suspect, Sasuke tried his best to push Naruto off of him until he heard an unusual sound.

Laughing.

Beyond the spiky blonde hair, he could see the large brown dog licking the tan face as Naruto rolled over and over laughing at the top of his lungs. So in short: Naruto wasn't being mauled, the dog was Kakashi's, and Sasuke was now late to school.

Someone should die.

He found it easier to sit up seeing how Naruto was several meters away hiding behind the teacher's dog. Once Sasuke was finally on his feet, he gave a very low growl while slowly marching over to the source of all his problems.

"Hey! Teme!" the blonde screamed with an outstretched arm as an attempt to keep the other boy away. "Uchiha! Y-you can't kill me! Remember what Iruka-sensei said! Count to ten! Do the breathing exercise!"

Oh, he was going to count all right.

"Ten, nine, EIGHT,"

It was a countdown. Like that on a bomb. Or the end of someone's life.

"Seven…six…five…"

Each step Sasuke took only pushed Naruto further away. Until his back hit a wall. So nowhere to run, the dark-haired boy got closer and closer, pale hands rising in the air, fingers curling as to wrap themselves around something. Maybe a certain blonde's neck, for example.

"Four…"

Fingers were already curling around the collar of the jacket as the younger boy was working up a sweat.

"THREE…"

"Uchiha! Murder is a serious crime!"

The dog couldn't agree with him more as he began barking to the murderous intent bathing Sasuke. Just when he was about to try and hide the evidence and think of an alibi, he let out a long heavy breath and his hands didn't have a strong grip on Naruto's shirt any longer. Naruto's arms slumped knowing he was given another day to live and he rested his body weight on the building behind him. They were like that for a few more seconds, with the dog quieting down. Suddenly, the pale hands regained their murderous grip on the jacket and pulled Naruto forward until their noses were inches apart. The blonde saw anger, but he could have sworn that he saw those ebony eyes flash to red with some kind of dark spirals near the center.

"You."

He said those words as if the venom attached would kill the boy. Just to emphasize the anger, he even pulled Naruto about an inch closer.

"I'm going to be late to school because of you."

"O-okay. Don't fret, Uchiha. It's not like being a couple minutes tardy is such a big deal-"

"At this rate, we'll be later than _Kakashi_. You do realize that I have _never_ been late to class, _never_ missed an assignment, and _never_ gotten into any trouble with my old school. But that all changed when I came here. When I ran into _you_."

"H-h-hey…there's a first time for everything, right?"

'Murder is a felony. Murder is a felony. Murder is a felony. Murder is a felony. Murder is a felony.'

Even if he had to tell himself over and over, oh, how he wished he could just get one good grip. Just for a second. Around that scrawny little neck of his. But was it really worth running from the police from?

…….

…………………….

The debate was going on longer than it was suppose to, keeping Sasuke from school any longer. To save time, he finally released the coat and stormed off a short distance to the corner of the building. Realizing that his life was officially spared (unless Sasuke snapped again), Naruto brought his hand to his heart and took a deep breath.

"Dobe."

The blonde jumped from the sudden call and turned to the boy who called out to him. Wasn't he supposed to be gone?

"I still don't know the city very well. Take me to school now."

"First of all, the least you can do is ask me. _Politely._"

"_You_ got me here in the first place."

"Second, I got a name, and you know it's not 'Dobe'."

"_Now_, Usuratonkachi."

Naruto's eye twitched a couple of times before shouting out his reply.

"You know what?! I _don't_ know where we are! And even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell you, Teme!"

So no one was around and it was a great possibility that no one would be able to find them. Oh, the setting made it all the more tempting to do away with him once and for all. But it was a crime. It was a crime….

"Hey! What if we use Kakashi-sensei's dog to get us to school?!"

Naruto bent down and scratched the large dog's ear while talking to it like it was slow or a child. Honestly, Sasuke never understood why people talked to dogs that way. No, i_any_/i animal that way. But dogs more often than anything else. It was such a pain in the ass. Besides, the dark-haired boy was more of a cat-person. At least they could take care of themselves. Dogs were just hopeless and stupid.

Sasuke stared for a few more seconds as the large beast began licking the blonde's face like earlier. That was also a very disgusting trait of them.

But seeing as how it was the only way to get out of the maze, and surprisingly the smartest thing Naruto had said…well….ever, Sasuke had to consider it and just go along with it.

"Hn."

The older boy strolled over to the two idiots with his hands in his coat pockets waiting for them to finally break up and get him the out of that hell-hole. No wait. That was where he was planning to go.

"Okay…err…"

The blonde gripped the collar and took a quick look at the golden tag.

"_Itty_? As in "itty-bitty"? What a weird name…Okay, Itty! Take us to school! Can you do that, boy? Can you?"

Despite all the praise the blonde was trying to give him, the dog didn't even bother to move. Sasuke thought that dogs really were that stupid and he should just try to find his own way out instead. However, he saw that instead of not knowing, the dog wasn't even _trying_. The head was turned, but not making eye contact with either human boy. Plus, if Sasuke was sure, the stupid looking "happy face" that dogs usually had on wasn't even on his face anymore.

"What's wrong with it?" Sasuke finally asked.

Through the encouraging, the blonde looked up at the raven and gave him a questioning pout with his head tilted to the side and his eyes slightly closed. He really did resemble a fox when he did that.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's not even responding to your commands. I'm sure it's not _that_ stupid. He should be looking at you when you talk."

Sasuke took a few steps closer and straightened his posture.

"What are you doing now?" Naruto asked.

"Showing him the Alpha-Male. Don't talk down on him. Show him whose boss and he will respond."

"Huh…..how come you know this, Uchiha?"

"I have a fr….I know someone who is really good with animals. Now if you don't mind."

Sasuke walked around so he was facing the dog's head. He took a deep breath and spoke with as much power and authority to get the dog to respond.

"Take us to school. To your master. _Now._"

Instead of the response he would like to get, which became a pretty much "never" since he got to that school, the dog merely spun his head the other way and didn't bother to look at the Uchiha. Both boys stood still for the longest time before Naruto spoke again.

"I thought you said you knew someone who was good with animals. I think you just failed right there, Uchiha."

If only looks could kill. Sasuke shot him the dirtiest, darkest, and ugliest face he could muster, making the boy jump a bit from his knelt position.

"M-maybe he's just not feeling well, right? Maybe that's it!"

'That's right. You _better_ be afraid.' Sasuke thought.

The blonde patted the dog's head and spoke in that undermining tone he used earlier.

"What's the matter, Itty? You not feeling well? Why aren't you showing us to school?"

The dog gave one glance over to the problem before turning its head away again.

Oh, hell no.

He did not just say that an Uchiha was the problem.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Sasuke mumbled.

"Oh wow. He don't like you, Uchiha."

"No shit, Sherlock. I hate dogs anyway."

"How can you say that?!

"I just want to get to school! Why is that such a fucking difficult task?!"

Naruto turned back down to the dog and began petting him again.

"Come on, now. We got to get to school. Just ignore Teme and just show us, okay?"

The dog gave another sideways glance before giving a little grunt and turning away.

"…Maybe you should apologize."

"……what."

That wasn't a question. That was more of the "stupidest thing that has come out of your mouth yet" comment.

"Dogs have feelings, too! You see how Akamaru reacts all the time! Just go ahead and apologize."

Yep. Definitely the stupidest thing.

"You've got to be- there's no way in hel-"

"You want to wander around or get to school?"

Life hated him. It was official. But he had to get to school and there was no other way around it. He threw away all of his pride, telling himself that no one else was around, summoned up all his strength and will-power and walked a bit closer to the stupid animal that was ironically giving orders.

"You tell anyone about this," Sasuke hissed to the other boy. "And you're **dead**."

Naruto made a jester of zipping his mouth and throwing away the pin before Sasuke continued before backing out. He knelt down and brought his hand up to the dog's head.

"I'm sorry….Itty. So take me to school, okay?"

The only response he got was a bite on the hand. It wasn't anything too painful, but it sure was annoying. Especially the pitiful act Sasuke just had to put on to even get the damn mongrel's attention. The Uchiha glare made its appearance back on Sasuke face as he glared at the dog who only held on to the pale hand with its teeth.

Naruto, on the other hand, was trying his hardest not to laugh. If he wanted to die from laughter, he didn't want it to be because of the dark-haired boy who was continuously in a bad mood. Once deeming his voice to be in a safe tone, he reached over to the dog's mouth and tried prying open the jaw.

"O-okay, Itty. Let go now. We got to get to school. He apologized, okay?"

After a bit of time, the dog finally let go, leaving barely any marks on the Uchiha hand. Sasuke mumbled under his breath, what with the dog and the morning and the cold weather and being late to school and, of course, the blonde idiot…

"Okay!"

Naruto shot his hand through the air and gave a ridiculous look that could only be found in manga.

" Itty! Take us to school!"

The chocolate-colored dog happily agreed with a bark and ran off down the alley and around the corner.

"Come on, Uchiha! Let's keep up!"

If there was any silver lining in this entire mess…..

Sasuke just shoved his hands in his coat pocket and hurried after the dumb animal. And the dog.

As soon as he turned the corner, he looked down the street only to find the school building only several meters away but in plain sight.

Of course life hated him.

"You are **so** dead!"

But looking around him, he saw pass over the horizon down the road one way while a little blonde mop of hair found made its way down to the school. The day was just looking _so beautiful_, so how could it possibly get any better?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Wow. You guys sure are late. What's the occasion?"

Sasuke gave the silver-haired man a glare, something he sure as hell wasn't ever short on, while Naruto stood at the door for a few seconds with his mouth wide open.

"You- but- it was- IT WAS _YOUR_ DOG!"

"You know, Sasuke, I feel a bit insecure when you glare at me like that. Just take your seats, both of you."

"Don't ignore me, Kakashi-sensei! This is all _your_ fault!"

Sasuke knew that going to his seat wouldn't make his headache go away. It would always be sitting right behind him. But say that he wanted to beat himself until he was unconscious, at least he would have a seat and not lying on the ground.

"Alright, everyone. Now that Naruto and Sasuke finally made it to class-"

"Screw you, sensei!"

"-I'll call out the final two pairs for the spring trip."

The school already had a trip planned for each grade since it had enough money. Third years would head out of the country to a nearby one for their trip. The lower grades remained in the country, but still had something fun planned to do. Second years, for that year, were going to a huge festival on the other side of the country. The first years, where Sasuke and Naruto were in, were going to a special indoor water park. It was relatively new and said to have many features and fun things to do there, but it just wasn't Sasuke's thing. Actually, no group trip was. The only thing making him go was the supposed long list of assignments that students not going or wanting to go had to do. So of course, Sasuke was going. Meanwhile, Naruto was waiting to go on the trip the day it was even mentioned in junior high.

Sasuke would have easily ignored this if it weren't for the fact that he had to go with a partner. And seeing how it was an even numbered class and that those two were late….

'Please don't let it be Uzumaki.' He prayed. 'Don't be Uzumaki. Don't be Uzumaki. Don't be Uzumaki. Don't be Uzumaki.'

"And Uzumaki Naruto will be paired with…"

'I know the gods hate me, but just put me on this one little break, please?'

Uchihas never said "please". Obviously Sasuke was serious about this.

"Kimishima Takashi."

"Oh, come on!"

As the blonde was ranting on about how it was a bad idea, Sasuke only let out a long sigh of relief. Maybe life didn't hate him that much after all.

"And Uchiha Sasuke is with…"

At least he would be paired with someone who would leave him alone. It wouldn't bother him too much who it was as long as it wasn't someone like-

"Kawai Kohaku."

"WHAT?!" was a group of reactions from the class.

"Why am I not paired with him?!" Naruto shouted.

"Because you with someone you're very close with would only lead to trouble. And you and Sasuke would only lead to more trouble, so you guys aren't paired together. By the way, Haku, go and change into your proper uniform."

Sasuke slowly looked up to the ceiling. Of course since he had this break, he would be tortured in some other way. His eyes slowly made their way to his new spring trip partner, watching as his perfectly beautiful face scrunched up in such a cute way when trying to argue with their teacher. Before he gave up in his fight, Haku turned his eyes to Sasuke and gave him a soft smile, making the hairs on the pale boy's skin stand on end for a bit.

Wonderful.

That day was just turning out do _perfect_. There was only one thing that would just top all of this off, but thankfully that problem was already thousands of miles overseas and wouldn't be bothering him for a while.

Until then, he would have to deal with the blonde, the trip, and the person questioning his sexuality.

*~*~*~*~*~*

With his face tilted to the sky, the blonde closed his eyes and put the vision in his head. He felt the soft February breeze on his cheeks as he evened his breathing. Finally, he took a deep breath and tilted his head back a bit more before screaming at the top of his lungs.

**"DAMN YOU, KYUUBI!"**

Gaara was bundled in many layers of clothing trying to fight off the cold. However, his expression only matched the weather and his body didn't show how much he really hated the freezing weather. While he silently stood next to the blonde student in the middle of the court yard, Haku was standing by the door bundled in a pink scarf and baby blue coat and back into his pink uniform (when he found the chance to change back). As he giggled a bit by the foolish behavior of his friend, Sasuke emerged from the doors, catching the feminine boy's attention.

"Sasuke-kun!"

The young Uchiha flinched for a second before turning around trying to hide any anxiety he might have.

"What is it….Kohaku?"

"You don't have to be so formal with me," he smiled. "'Haku' is just fine. Or 'Ha-kun', which is what Naru-chan calls me."

"Alright….Haku."

He gave another smile before going back to the topic.

"Anyway. I wanted to ask you how you wanted to arrange things for our spring trip. You know, like snacks, games, sleeping arrangements-"

"Wait. What?"

"Sleeping arrangements. There were a shortage of double rooms and there might be a chance that we get stuck with one of the singles. We might have to share a bed, you know."

Yup. Life definitely hated him. Sasuke slowly massaged his temples with one hand. It was almost like there was-

"-you cowardly demon following me and making my life so miserable, you _jackass_!"

As if the words were taken right out of his mouth. The dark-haired boys looked over to see the blonde shouting to the sky with his fist in the air and the occasional stomping of his feet.

"Alright I'll bite," Sasuke started. "What is he doing?"

"Naru-chan is just complaining about his bad luck again."

"…to the sky?"

"Actually, he's yelling at his star. He calls his bad luck 'Kyuubi', thinking it was haunting him since birth. Eventually, he believed that Kyuubi took some kind of form that would haunt him. First, he thought it was a number, the number nine to be specific. Then, it was an animal, which was a fox. Now, he's into people's births under stars, so now he thinks Kyuubi is the name of the unlucky star he was born under."

That made so much sense in the most illogical way. It could have been possible that Naruto was Sasuke's own little demon manifested into the body of a mischievous boy. Before he knew it, the Uchiha boy was already walking over to the blonde who was already out of breath and ready to give another daily insult. Actually, Sasuke would have insulted him whether it was subconsciously or not.

"You're supposed to be yelling at a star? You do realize that's the sun, right?"

"Shut the hell up, Teme!"

It was already a bad day with the blonde. Why did Sasuke have to go and make it worse?

"You're part of the reason I'm in such a sour mood, alright?! I bet you work with Kyuubi anyway!"

What the hell? Since when was Sasuke the root of all problems? Oh wait, i_everyone_/i in the school thought that.

"Oi. Don't put me in the same category as your crazy nine-tailed demon fox that brings you bad luck, got it?"

It took a few moments before the tan boy's face paled and held a look of terror. Sasuke looked at him questionably while Naruto took a few steps back. The raven looked over at the redhead for a bit, trying to find an answer. Instead, he got the usual silence, but the unusual wide-eyes from the boy. He was about to turn to Haku for the answer until a shaky voice brought his attention back to the blonde.

"You…"

He took a few more steps back before a tan finger was pointed in his direction.

"You knew….you _know_. You _do_ work for him!"

"What?"

"Uchiha Sasuke works for Kyuubi!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Usuratonkachi?!"

"Everybody!"

So much for this being a small discussion between the two of them.

"Uchiha Sasuke is a follower of Kyuubi! He's a slave of the devil himself!"

"What the fu- Don't go making stupid things up! Hey! Are you listening to me?!"

It was already too late. Naruto was already around the corner of the school telling anyone who passed by about Sasuke's evil deeds and intentions. Yeah. Because things weren't already as bad with people already hating him enough. He sank his face into his hand and gave a heavy sigh, silently wishing lightning would just strike him already. That would have been nice.

"Do you still want to talk about our plans now?"

The raven turned his head to the other dark haired boy who only gave a nervous smile.

"Or…maybe some other time?"

It was already a long day. Did sexual tension really need to be added to all this?

"Another time."

After receiving a small pat on the shoulder, Sasuke watched Haku follow after the shouting blonde, leaving him alone in the courtyard. Well, alone with Gaara. He looked over to the redhead who was staring at him silently with that harsh look he always had on his face if he wasn't looking at Haku or Naruto.

"What?" Sasuke finally asked.

However, that didn't even make Gaara move. He stood there for a few seconds, still looking directly into those jet-black eyes, before finally moving away to follow behind the other two boys.

With all of that already done, Sasuke walked down the sidewalk after the school day was done, going through his usual routine of brainstorming a way to survive the rest of the semester. Through his walk, he was waiting for a bus to lose control and hit him right in the face and kill him in a slow and painful death, since he was sure his luck had turned sour since his first day at that school.

But then again, life and every existing deity hated him. So of course that wouldn't happen. He would have to be in class for another day.

* * *

So yeah. I'd say those two are getting along better, right?

I'm not going to make any time promises on when the next update is. Just keep your eyes peeled and I'll try to work as fast as I can when I get the time.

And if you didn't read the note above the story, then please go back and read it. It really explains my frustration right now and should help us get along better. Then I wouldn't have to purposefully not update the story for about a week next time (compared to my deviantART account).


	7. Reading

_**WARNING:** _Yes, this is in fact, a SasuNaru fanfic, meaning that it will contain **shounen-ai** moments, and even some heavy **smutty yaoi** scenes. If you are under the age of 17, dislike shounen-ai/yaoi, or do not like the pair Sasuke and Naruto or even not like Naruto as the uke in the relationship, then please close the browser now. Do NOT leave any rude comments or flames. Criticism is one thing, bashing my preferences is another.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto is responsible for "Naruto" and all Naruto-related characters, concepts and relationships. I only made up this particular story and the manipulation of Kishimoto's characters.

**P.S.** I spell "blond" with the extra "e" at the end (blonde). It may be a bit unusual to some, but it's not wrong. So don't tell me that it is.

* * *

_For people who are smiling all the time, it means only two things: Either they have something to hide, or they're too ignorant of the world around them to know when they should stop._

_

* * *

_

"Hey, Nara."

Breaking from his concentration, the boy looked up from the shogi board to look at his opponent. No one has stood a chance against Shikamaru, so no one bothered to play. But seeing him at such an intellectual level and the fact that he was bored during the breaks, Sasuke was sitting across from him and putting up a fight. Not one that worried the young genius though…

"What do you need? You see me concentrating right?"

In his moments of serious thinking, Shikamaru could be very cranky sometimes, which annoyed the young Uchiha that he would dare talk to him that way. But he let his eye twitch and gave a sigh before letting that little bit slide.

"Uzumaki."

Seeing how rare it was for Sasuke to mention the blonde outside of an argument with him or anytime out of five minutes in his presence, it got the curiosity of the other boy going.

"What about him?"

Looking down at the board, he let his memories cloud his eyes, thinking back to the day before. Outside of the school, the temperature was steadily increasing, so the clothes the boys were wearing were lighter than a few weeks before. Finally getting a break and taking the opportunity of avoiding any trouble, Sasuke decided to exit the building from another side than he usually did. It was best since he knew that plenty of girls from other schools and even some of the boys from Konoha were waiting for him out on his usual route. Plus he would be avoiding a certain little devil he saw every day.

"Is he always….so happy?"

The other boy arched an eyebrow when studying the young Uchiha lost in thought.

After seeing a wave of boys exit from a door not too far away, Sasuke hid behind a pillar and peeked over. Of course, Naruto had to be among them. He could see the bright blonde mop sticking out from all of the boys, the "Uke Club" members that everyone claims them to be. But what was a bit surprising was not seeing long, black hair or deep red anywhere near the boy. It was probably a first not seeing Gaara or Haku anywhere close by.

"Happy?"

Even so, a couple of boys turned to Naruto and happily shouted something in his face, most likely their way of communicating to each other. But the blonde, in another surprising action, only held up his hands and gave a reply in a normal tone, possibly refusing some kind of offer. There were exchanges of smiles, and the two boys ran off leaving Naruto alone by the school door.

"Well, he's always smiling."

The tan boy's shrunk as his distance between the other students increased. He was always surrounded by so many people and so willingly attaching himself to them. Sasuke just couldn't understand why what he was seeing right then just seemed so…_wrong_. Naruto's head turned to look back to the building wall and checked it over before leaning himself on the wall and looking up at the sky before releasing a long breath. It looked as if his smile left along with that breath.

"Happy…." Shikamaru mumbled.

It was at this point that Shikamaru's concentration was more on the conversation and less on the game in front of him. Anyone else would have taken the time to try and move the board a bit, but Sasuke wasn't the kind to do that. Plus, he was pretty serious about what he was asking.

"Well….if he's smiling, he's enjoying himself, right? I mean, aside from the times he's scared out of his mind from the principal or Hyuuga or even Gai…he seems pretty content with himself."

It was Sasuke's turn to raise one of his eyebrows.

"Well, there's also the times when he's in fights. More noticeably, the ones he has with you. So if you mean he has other emotions besides joy, then yeah, he has those, too."

Thinking back on the memory, Sasuke just assumed that even if that scene was a bit too contradicting or weird, it would soon change. So he thought nothing more of it and decided to make his leave.

"Okay. What about sadness?"

"You seem pretty interested in Naruto, you know that Uchiha?"

He shot him a glare while defending himself.

"Can't we have a conversation while playing shogi? I just thought of him because he passed here not too long ago with that stupid smile on his face. Just answer the damn question."

Shikamaru's face didn't change at all with the harsh tone flowing in his direction. Instead, he looked down at the board eyeing one of his own pieces.

"Well, since you're so _interested_…"

His finger made it to one of the pieces before continuing on.

"The only time Naruto would cry would be from the store running out of ramen or the ramen shop closing for the day. But you know those tears aren't real."

The finger slid the piece over to a new spot on the board before removing itself. Sasuke was now in trouble.

"So, no. Naruto's pretty much smiling all the time. It's not like he has anything to worry about in his life aside from grades and the teachers, right?"

Sasuke had to make his way back to school. He did **not** forget his notebook. It was just in a different place other than his bag. But that doesn't mean he misplaced it. It just wasn't in his bag. Uchihas **don't** forget things. Ever.

Anyway, while making his way back to school, he quickly made his way to the classroom, found his missing notebook, and made his way down the hall before anyone would see him and ask him a stupid question. Like forgetting things.

But while making his hasty escape, he noticed something next to the wall of the building when he shot through the double doors. There, sitting on the ground, was Naruto. His knees were tucked up and his arms were resting on his knees. As if he had been sitting there for the past hour. As if no one had come around to meet with the boy. He looked so much like an abandoned puppy, or rather, a fox. It was practically visible to see the ears on his head drooping and his tail not making any movements. Even to the Uchiha's eyes, this was so downright pitiful, it was actually _sad_.

When those double doors swung their way back around, they made a loud noise when settling back to their resting place. By instinct, Naruto's head jolted up from its hanging state and spun around to the source of the noise. But Sasuke was just a bit quicker and hid behind the pillar that he used earlier that day. He poked his head out just a bit to look over to the blonde boy. He saw him look left and right and left again, as if he was about to cross the street. Seeing no one nearby, his head and imaginary ears drooped again before settling back to his depressing state.

Sasuke didn't quite know what he was feeling or know what he was supposed to do in that situation, but he knew that he shouldn't even be there to see it. So he just adjusted his bag and made a quiet but quick exit.

"So why do you care so much?"

Sasuke looked down at the board after Shikamaru moved one of his pieces. He just realized that last move was a stupid mistake.

"….No reason."

* * *

Everyone around him assumed nothing was wrong with him. In terms of things at home or anything outside of school. Which was fine. He didn't need anyone to worry about him so much. As long as everyone else around was happy, so was he.

Naruto's mind was a terrible mess. Not just because of his inability to retain useful (or in his opinion, use_less_) information. For starters, he had no memory of his past. Almost all of his memories of the time before he was seven disappeared for some reason. And no one would explain to him how or why it happened. But he noticed that what they were trying to make him do was to not worry. About information that could potentially hurt him. So from learning from those people, he decided that he didn't need other people worrying about him. If he didn't have to worry about himself, neither did anyone else.

Second, it felt like he was…"cramped." As if there was something else that he knew about but didn't really know. It could be part of his missing memories, but it was still an unknown subject. The best Naruto could do was ignore it, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't go away. That it _won't_ go away. As if it is some kind of invisible force was governing his life. So at some point in time, he named the problem "Kyuubi" and tried to link it to something around him to claim it as the problem.

People knew about Kyuubi, but they didn't know about its origins. Which was fine. No one needed to know those terrible secrets about Naruto. He didn't need them worrying over someone like himself. Someone who wasn't nearly as important as others. At that point in time, he never really cared what happened to him, so long as the people around him that he cared for weren't suffering in any sort of way. And he didn't need to be the cause of their problems either.

He just needed to keep a distance between himself and others. No matter how painful it was.

"Okay…No, I understand….so a couple of days, right?....okay….bye."

The blonde put the phone back on its stand before giving a very heavy sigh. His best friend, Gaara, wouldn't be able to go to school for the rest of the week. Which was why Naruto had been left alone at school the day before. Gaara left on such short notice that he didn't inform the blonde or Haku about his sudden disappearance. Gaara was Naruto's best friend since they were babies (from what he had been told) and have always been with each other no matter what. To the redhead, Naruto was so close people often see him as another part of the family. Gaara's siblings, Temari and Kankorou, often see him as another little brother as well. As for Gaara's relation with Naruto: they seemed much closer than with Gaara and his real brother. So it was something more than a bond between brothers.

And since they held such a close relationship, all their secrets were known to one another. From Naruto's need for companionship and his claustrophobia to Gaara's insomnia most nights and extreme shyness (that's right. Gaara's not a punk or anything. Just shy. Naruto would often notice the blush that would creep onto his face whenever someone would come close to the redhead). Haku didn't compare to the two since he only showed up in their lives the last year of elementary school. So no, the feminine boy didn't know everything about the two, but he knew how to mind his own business which was okay for the blonde. And because of this system, those three were the closest of friends.

Which was downright depressing when Naruto was separated from the two. Gaara always needed a specialist for a doctor and would have to leave town for a couple of days for doctor visits. Naruto and Haku would always fill him in later on events and class work that he had missed. So that would leave the just the blonde and the long-haired boy by themselves. But now, Haku wanted to spend some alone time with his secret lover, and Naruto didn't want to stand in the way of Haku and his love life.

So the only one left was Naruto.

"Alone now, aren't we, Uzumaki?"

Naruto glanced over to the wall to see his harasser for the past week: Kimishima Takashi. To the tan boy, he was just a faceless person. All he could make out of him was the fact that he wasn't ugly (but not handsome either. Just plain average) and had short brown hair. That was all. Nothing else special about him. Oh wait! Except for the fact that he harasses Naruto on a daily basis since he was partnered up with him!

Naruto turned his head away with a look of disgust on his face.

"Tch. Don't you have some babies to kick and puppies to molest, Kimishima?"

"Puppies? You know I'm into foxes."

The blonde cringed at such a terrible joke. Not only was this boy a nobody to Naruto, but a disgusting nobody. Damn Kimishima and puberty taking its God-awful sweet time to really kick in.

"Want me to keep you company?"

"No thanks. Pigs aren't flying, dogs and cats aren't falling, and since Kyuubi hasn't told me anything new, hell must not be freezing over."

Before he could turn and walk away, a hand shot out in front of him and cut off his escape route to his next class. No one but that boy to stop him at that very moment.

"Aw, c'mon, Uzumaki. You're hurting my feelings. I'm just trying to keep you company."

While the blonde turned his head away, the boy took the opportunity to use his other arm to trap him in place.

"After all, _you're_ the one who doesn't want to be left alone."

The blonde looked at the other boy with his azure eyes wide open.

"What?"

"Oh, come now. You think someone like yourself wouldn't have these kinds of things unnoticed by others who watch you so much?"

'_How does he know that?'_ the blonde thought.

As he whispered, he began leaning toward Naruto.

"When everyone goes their separate ways, when you're abandoned by your precious friends, you feel so alone…"

'_Since when?'_

"You need to be surrounded. You need the attention so bad."

_Why does he know?'_

"Would you do anything for the attention of someone else?"

'_You're not supposed to know me like that_.'

"Anything for that attention….for someone to talk to…."

His face leaned in closer.

'_Don't come near me. I don't need you'._

"…for someone to look at you…"

_'I don't need….I don't need…'_

There were only a few centimeters separating their faces.

'_I….need….I need…'_

"….to _touch_ you-"

"You two!"

Both eyes turned to the source of the noise. Arms crossed, pale eyes glaring, and a very stern look on his face belonged to none other than Hyuuga Neji. Not pleased by their actions (especially of the brunette), the upperclassmen marched over to the two with his glare seeming to grow in intensity by each step.

"Public affections in this school are strictly prohibited. You two separate right now."

"C'mon, sempai," the other boy cooed. "I'm just trying to get to know my spring trip partner a bit better."

In one swift move, Neji jerked one of the boy's hands away and grabbed Naruto by the wrist and yanked him out of the other boy's hold.

"I should report you to Tsunade-sama right away. However, my mission right now is to get Naruto. You should watch yourself until then, Kimishima."

"That's good advice, sempai."

Ignoring what the boy said, Neji stormed out of the hallway tugging Naruto along. They swung around one corner, down the call, and turned down two more halls before they stopped. Without ever looking at the blonde or letting go of his wrist, Neji spoke a voice quieter than the confident one he always uses with other people.

"Just to let you know, you're not in any kind of trouble."

"Huh?"

The blonde took his hand back and looked at the older boy as if his head exploded and a rainbow popped out from the mess instead of blood. Sure, it would be terrible, but you wouldn't be able to look away. Plus, who would have expected that to happen?

"Then what was all that back there with Kimishima?"

With him turning to face Naruto and only looking into those pale lavender eyes of his, the blonde knew.

"You….lied?"

Neji gave him a questionable look.

"I'm human. I can do things like that, too."

"But you're _Hyuuga Neji_!"

"That's nice knowing my name has some kind of important meaning behind it."

It was Naruto's turn to give a questionable look. Accompanied by a cross of the arms.

"Since when does Hyuuga Neji misuse his authority for personal reasons?"

"I dunno. Since when does Hyuuga Neji start believing he should take fate into his own hands?"

Since he met Naruto.

At the end of the question, the pale boy gave a small smirk. Or maybe even a smile. Naruto rarely saw Neji smile, but it definitely wasn't like any of the other smirks he saw on the older boy's face. So maybe it was a smile. But seeing him smile like that without warning made the blonde a bit uncomfortable. Even when looking away, the blonde could feel his face heating up, which happened next to never.

"You could get into serious trouble doing that, ya know?" Naruto mumbled.

"This from the guy who pulls pranks on an almost weekly basis. This, by the way, is happening less frequently now."

"You don't say."

This was marked down in the history books. Naruto was known for never being uncomfortable from doing anything. But for some reason, holding a conversation with the older boy was one of the hardest things he found himself doing. And talking, or just making noises, was the blonde's specialty. But there he was, not knowing what to say, unable to stand still (which in reality was quite normal), and had no ability to look Neji in the eye.

"Well,"

Seeing how the tension was only getting thicker, Naruto tried to make a break for it.

"I'm already late for class, so I should just get going. No need for the two of us to get in trouble-"

"You're not really that big."

"…excuse me?"

"You're not the normal size of a regular 15-year-old. In fact, even if you were the normal size, you still wouldn't be big."

"Well excuse me for puberty taking its goddam sweet time getting to me!"

"Wait a minute!" the older boy shouted while putting a hand up.

Obviously getting him worked up was not part of Neji's intentions. So he let out a sigh before trying to correct the problem.

"What I meant to say was your body is not that big, neither are your shoulders. You shouldn't put so much weight on them."

Before Naruto got the chance to ask, Neji continued.

"I see you do so much on your own, aside from pranks. But you should know you can't do everything, no matter how much you try. Whether fate is speaking now or not. You can't do everything alone."

He took a couple of steps forward and placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"You should learn to let other people help you once in a while, no matter how trivial the situation may be. Make sure you let _some_ people get closer to you, okay?"

The emphasis on "some" made it obvious to the hidden meaning. But the only thing Naruto could do was look into those pale eyes in front of him. It was weird how they seemed to be drawing him in. What's worse that, for the first time in a really long time, probably ever, Naruto was speechless. First the annoying Kimishima, now Neji. And it was all because they were able to "read" him.

Noting the tan boy's silence, Neji gave another smirk before turning down the hall and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"You should probably get to class before I come back and get you, Naruto."

And with that final word, a turn of the head and another small smile, he disappeared behind the corner of the hall.

It was true. Naruto never asked for any help from anybody. After all, from a time before he met Gaara, he never got any help from the people around him. They never told him anything nor did they help him in little things such as academics or housework. He was left to fight alone, and so it was his primary instincts.

That mood only lightened by just a bit when he met the redhead and his older siblings. And a bit more when Haku met him later in life. But generally, all of Naruto's actions were based on the fact that there was no one looking out for him or helping him in any shape or form. And if anyone knew this (aside from Gaara), they wouldn't blame him for his actions. But since Naruto only let those select few close to him, no one really knew Naruto's true nature or feelings.

"Usuratonkachi!"

"Huh?"

Naruto's head shot up to see two dark eyes looking right back at him. And they looked a bit annoyed, too.

Oh, right.

It was math class. And they were put into pairs. And due to Naruto's "great" luck, he was stuck with Uchiha.

"Eh, sorry Uchiha. I wasn't paying attention."

"No, clearly you weren't," he snorted.

Naruto never really liked being paired or grouped with other people. Like Shikamaru would say, it was always so "troublesome". And it seemed like the raven sitting in front of him didn't like the idea either. Didn't mean he had to be a total jerk while working together.

"Stop spacing out and pay attention. I'm trying to show you how this problem works."

"Huh? You're the math whiz. Why don't you just finish it and turn the thing in already so we can be done with this?"

"Because if the teacher decides to ask you a question on the worksheet _we're_ suppose to be working on and find out you did and know nothing, we're _both_ getting in trouble. Got it?"

"Haaa…Yeah, yeah…"

Leave it to the prissy Uchiha to take extra precautions on precautions on not getting in trouble.

"Stupid follower of the Kyuubi…"

Sasuke's eye twitched before grabbing another paper and giving his remark.

"Just because I guessed, remember _guessed_, right about that bad luck of yours doesn't mean I'm a slave to the devil. For all I know, that demon fox of yours is just hiding inside of you. So you're really just some demon child, right?"

The young Uchiha looked at the next problem for a bit before realizing there was no reply from the boy across from him. Looking up, he saw those blue eyes spaced out, not even looking at the paper in front of him anymore.

"U…Uzumaki?"

_"Demon child."_

'_No…'_

"_That thing is a monster."_

'_Stop calling me that….'_

"_Why does something like that even exist?"_

'_You don't know anything about me!'_

"_This monster….right here…"_

'_Don't call me a monster!'_

"Naruto!"

It was the second time Naruto was broken out of the trace by the raven boy. But this time, he could feel the corners of his eyes stinging, promising tears to come if he didn't change his attitude fast.

"Huh? Sorry. Guess I zoned out again. This problem right here- how do you do proofs anyway?"

"Naruto."

He knew as soon as Sasuke's tone of voice changed like that, things would be going for the worst. But even when his brain told him that, his body ignored those fears and looked up. And sure enough, it was there.

The Uchiha face, for the first time Naruto had ever seen it (or possibly _anyone_), took a shape that looked so out of place and out of character on someone like him. The face of worry. But it being on Sasuke's face was the last place Naruto wanted to see it on. Anyone having a worried look on their face was something Naruto never wanted to see. But having it directed toward him was unbearable. And now sitting n the pale face in front of him was just too much.

Sasuke was supposed to be the new student. Someone Naruto never really had to know and definitely someone he didn't want to get close to in any sort of way. But day by day, he was talking to him more, arguing with him, fighting with him. Just getting _closer_. And now, closer than those other people that were Naruto's "friends", closer than Kiba or Shikamaru, Sasuke had that face that he only saw on Gaara and Haku. And even then, he never wanted to see them worry about the tan boy. Was he now as close to Naruto as Gaara and Haku were?

Since when did Naruto let a stranger get this close to him without any warning or reason?

And why?

"Are you….are you alright?"

He could feel the tears trying their hardest to seep through his eyes. No one should be looking at him like that. Especially Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't see him like that. Like he was weak. Like he needed help. If he needed help, he would have to get closer to people. If he let people closer….

But what was the harm in that? Was it bad to let strangers close?

Was _Sasuke_ a stranger?

Naruto stopped his thoughts from wandering any further and tried his hardest, for the first time, to push his feelings aside. He sucked back the tears, thought of an excuse, and forced a smile onto his face.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about…uh…meditation!"

"…meditation?"

"Uh…yeah! Meditation! I mean, when you meditate, you have to think of nothing, right? But to think of nothing, you would have to think about what you're _not_ thinking about. And if you think about what you're not supposed to be thinking about, then you're thinking about it, so…"

That groan obviously meant Sasuke was done listening to him. And with that, there would be no more prying.

"Just drop it, Dobe."

Looking from the corner of his eye, Sasuke could tell that the subject was dropped but the problem was still hanging in the air. That weird feeling from before started to swim around in the raven's chest. Naruto was obviously trying to hide something, but you could very well tell that it was still in his eyes. Feeling that he had to do something, Sasuke put the worksheet down on the desk and reached into his pocket.

"Uzumaki."

Naruto looked up, but with hesitation this time.

"Even or odd?"

"Huh?"

"Just pick one."

"Uh….odd?"

After hearing the answer, Sasuke pulled two small wooden dice that he found earlier that day and rolled them on the desk in front of him. After spinning for a few moments, the dice finally settled and showed the results of the roll.

"Three and three. Even. You owe me lunch tomorrow."

"What? By what? I didn't even know what we were doing!"

Naruto was obviously getting louder, returning to his old self, so the raven thought it was a good time to get back to work.

"Hey! Don't put those away! I want a rematch! Make it fair, Teme!"

…Or so he thought.

* * *

Naruto pushed out of the school doors and slowly made his way to the entrance of the school. Alone. Haku was with that "lover" of his and Gaara was still out at the doctors. Surprisingly, the faceless partner of Naruto hadn't shown his face for the rest of the day. But sadly, neither did Neji.

"Wait. Why do I care if Neji shows up?"

"What about Hyuuga?"

Naruto turned his head and saw Sasuke standing right beside him. Unlike everyone else at the school, Sasuke was still wearing his heavy coat, obviously showing how sensitive he was to the cold. Only Naruto dared to tease him about that and suffer the consequences. Still didn't stop him a second time.

"Huh?"

"You still didn't drop that bad habit of yours, Dobe."

"Oh, right…..Hey! Don't call me a 'dobe,' Teme!"

"That's a pretty late response, don't you think?"

The teasing smirk was met with a glare before the two of them fell to silence. The rest of the school yard was clearing out, all the other boys making their way back home with other people. Girls began getting impatient and started heading back. It seemed like the only two people that weren't moving were Naruto and Sasuke.

"Not know your way home?"

"Shut up, Teme! Of course I do!"

"If you want, I can look it up for you….and walk you there…"

The hint of uncertainty and uneasiness was so obvious in the Uchiha's last statement. Even the blonde turned to face Sasuke who had turned his head in the other direction. Most likely form embarrassment.

But Naruto knew.

Under normal conditions, Sasuke would never offer anything like this.

"No way!"

Sasuke turned his head back around to see Naruto standing several feet away from him and sticking his tongue out like the little child that he was.

"I'm not some girl! I can make it home by myself without any trouble!"

There was a bit of silence in the air as the two of them stood staring at each other. Before Sasuke could say anything, Naruto beat him to it. But saying what he wanted to say was the hardest thing he had ever done. Especially since he felt his face getting hotter and he had the terrible feeling that things would only get worse.

"So…so don't worry about me!"

The blonde grabbed the strap to his bag and gave the largest grin he could muster.

"See you tomorrow, Uchiha!"

He gave a wave with his free hand and sped down the sidewalk until he was no longer in the raven's sight.

Meanwhile in the courtyard, Sasuke only stood looking in the direction Naruto ran off in.

"That idiot."

His fist by his side clenched in the tightest form possible with those thick gloves on his hands. He scowled at the scene he had just saw and played over and over in his head.

His grin was large. Covering most of his face and showing off his teeth.

But his eyes. They weren't as bright as they had been before. In fact, his eyes had _never_ been that bright.

This only meant that it was fake. That grin he gave to the Uchiha and every other smile he had shown at that school. That little parade he was showing to the whole school was nothing but a hoax. Wearing that stupid mask over his face…

"I hate that the most. I hate that, Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Kimishima. Neji. Uchiha.

All three of them were able to read the blonde so easily. All those years of hiding so well and it all fell apart in one afternoon.

How did this happen?

How did they get closer to him than he wanted? Weren't they strangers? If any of them were, then it had to be Sasuke. He knew Kimishima since the beginning of the year and Neji before then.

But Sasuke was worried.

Neji wanted to help.

Kimishima knew about Naruto's weakness.

If those three were already like this, then there would only be a matter of time before they tried and get closer to Naruto. Only a few more steps before they were close enough to know the "real" him. That level where only a very select few were allowed to tread.

……

Is it okay…to let people get that close? To try and find the "real" person behind the mask?

* * *

**_Was it more depressing than normal? But at least you got a better look at the real Uzumaki Naruto. And now, there's competition for the blonde's heart: NejiNaru, OCxNaru, and of course SasuNaru. More pairs. Just to piss some people off (can you tell that I'm still holding a grudge? lol)_**

**_*lol* I added spacers because they disappeared when I put the text here on this website._**

**_Two more chapters until the spring trip._**

**Hopefully now that I'm on summer break I can work on things a bit faster...hopefully.**


	8. The Plan

_**WARNING:** _Yes, this is in fact, a SasuNaru fanfic, meaning that it will contain **shounen-ai** moments, and even some heavy **smutty yaoi** scenes. If you are under the age of 17, dislike shounen-ai/yaoi, or do not like the pair Sasuke and Naruto or even not like Naruto as the uke in the relationship, then please close the browser now. Do NOT leave any rude comments or flames. Criticism is one thing, bashing my preferences is another.

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto is responsible for "Naruto" and all Naruto-related characters, concepts and relationships. I only made up this particular story and the manipulation of Kishimoto's characters.

**P.S.** I spell "blond" with the extra "e" at the end (blonde). It may be a bit unusual to some, but it's not wrong. So don't tell me that it is.

* * *

"Hey, Uchiha."

Said boy turned his head to see someone he wanted to avoid. Quite frankly, he didn't know the boy too well, or many of the boys in his own class for that matter, and so didn't want to waste more brainpower on new people who would just turn out to be annoying.

Dark hair…green eyes….wasn't his name Kimi-something?

"What do you want?" he asked in his most annoyed tone.

Really, the boy looked like he wanted something and Sasuke wanted no part of it.

"I have a favor to ask of you."

Bingo! So obvious.

"Not interested," he huffed while turning on his heel.

But the other boy didn't want to take "no" for an answer.

"Oh, come on!" he said while cutting the raven haired boy off.

Sasuke just shot him his Uchiha glare, inwardly smirking when he made the boy jump.

"J-just hear me out!"

Just let him talk, then get the hell away from him.

"So you know Uzumaki Naruto is my partner, right? And Kawai Haku is yours. Both the prez and vice prez, being best buds and all, right?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Those two are pretty inseparable. This is where I need your help. I need you to separate them. Keep Haku away and it'll all be good, k'?"

Sasuke gave him a look that no longer looked at him with annoyance. More like disgust. As if he was some kind of pedophile. No, they were all in the same class and same age group, so that'd just make him a regular pervert, right?

"Well, since you came to me and explained it all out..._not interested_."

He made it about ten steps before the brunette called out to him, at least loud enough so only the two of them could hear.

"Oh~ and here I thought you'd spend that time alone with the vice prez. Or are all those looks you give him just out of plain curiosity?"

Sasuke seemed to be doing a lot of stopping and glaring in this one conversation, but the other boy seemed to be more amused this time around.

"What?" the other boy asked, tilting his head to the side as a way to annoy the raven. "You didn't think that far ahead in this little plan? Of course I wouldn't be asking you this if you didn't get something in return. Oh, and don't think I didn't notice your wandering eyes. I tend to have a good eye on the Uke Club and all its members."

Sasuke could just _feel_ the creepy-stalker vibe radiating off this guy. What's worse was that he seemed so damn proud of it. It was sickening.

But what seemed to sicken the young Uchiha more was that he didn't deny his request. And as more time passed on, the worse the situation got. He even opened his mouth once, but found himself slowly shutting it without anything passing through his lips. And with this done, he saw the other boy let a sly smirk across his face.

"Okay!"

He actually had the nerve to walk up to Sasuke and actually pat him on the back, let alone _touch_ him.

"So now that we've got that taken care of, there'll be nothing to worry about! We'll both help each other and get what we want!"

Sasuke didn't know what he hated more: the whisper of "for some of that uke ass" or the fact that not once did he protest against the idea. There was no way he wanted to be linked in any sort of way to some disgusting pervert. Not at all. But the thought of spending some time alone with Haku…

But Haku already had someone. Alone time with him would be all for nothing.

When all this finally started to settle in and he turned around to deny the request, the brunette was already gone. Only some other unfamiliar students were hanging around and talking to one another, most likely the upcoming spring trip.

He hated this. He hated not saying anything. Not doing anything.

But in the end, he told himself to forget the whole thing and make it to his next class.

He couldn't help but think how nice of a pleasant sound could be heard from the feminine boy's mouth (wearing another girl's uniform; green that day). A hell of a lot more soothing than the girls who hit on him on a daily basis.

"So in the end, I guess we really don't need to bring that much, huh Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn. I never planned on bringing that much in the first place."

While the other boys were chatting it up in the break between class, Haku wanted to go over the last few things before they left for the spring trip. After all, it was next week.

"Are you still upset that you can't fake being sick or you'd be in even more trouble?"

"Tch. It's like they expect everyone to go along and have a good time. What if I _want_ to stay here and do nothing but assignments?"

The other boy laughed at the question, easing Sasuke's annoyance by just a bit. Even if he _was_ taken, it was still nice to listen to him and enjoy his company just a bit. But he knew this would be as far as they would go. And soon, the offer that Kimi-guy proposed to him started to resurface into his thoughts.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He blinked a bit before looking at the other dark-haired boy across the desk from him. The concerned look on his face almost made the Uchiha mask crumble and ask what was wrong. _Almost_. Because Haku doesn't have that affect on him…not really.

"Well…I'm a bit concerned…about…"

"About?" Sasuke repeated, urging him to go on.

"Well…about Naru-chan."

Hearing the subject immediately made Sasuke lose interest. And to show it, he picked up a book and began reading it. But that didn't seem to stop the other boy from talking.

"Hey! You don't know why I even brought him up."

"Because he's _your_ friend, not mine. So of course you'd be thinking about him. I, however, am not interested."

"But this concerns you, too."

Sasuke looked up to glare at Haku, noting this was the first time he ever did so.

"Look. If it's about us fighting," the raven started, "then he started it. And if you want me to stay away from him so he can enjoy the stupid trip, then that's fine by me. I want to make this little vacation the smallest pain in my side possible."

With that, he switched his eyes back to his book and ended the conversation right there.

"You don't know how wrong you are."

Sasuke looked up for a second time, actually hearing someone put an Uchiha and 'is wrong' in the same sentence without a 'not' in between. There, his chocolate eyes were looking at the ground with sad but content look on his face, like someone being lost in nostalgia.

"Naru-chan fighting someone he knows is actually very normal when talking about him. In fact, it's easier for him to fight with other people so all issues are set on the table. This way, he knows what's troubling the other person and knows how to react to it. And he even does that with you, though fist-fights are a bit rare for him."

Haku took a breath and grabbed some of his hair to stroke it while he talked. And Sasuke was listening but didn't mind the little thing Haku was doing.

"But despite all the fighting you guys do, he talks to you so often. Just about as much as he talks to Kiba and Shikamaru. But with all the fighting, he knows a bit more about you, which is still pretty much a mystery to rest of the students here. And don't you know a bit about him as well?"

Sasuke had to think. And think hard. Really, the two of them fought over the stupidest of things. In gym class, he would always challenge him to running or whatever activities they did on Fridays. And during lunch, he always complained how Sasuke had no variety in his bento, even if the blonde himself always had bread and milk but talked about ramen with his mouth full. And when it came to assignments in class, he always complained to Sasuke how he didn't get the material but the raven was able to get it so easily. And there was the talking out loud to himself. Oh, how Sasuke _hated_ that.

So what did this all say? All it said was that the blonde was an idiot, competitive over the stupidest things, and most of all, annoying. But he could say that to almost anyone else in the school. So what did that prove?

"But it's a bit hard for others to read whatever Naru-chan is really thinking."

Sasuke was about to speak until Haku cut him off.

"Though I'm his very good friend, so I know a little bit more about him."

Of course he knew a bit more about him since they seemed to spend almost all the time with each other. But…

When he's by himself…he doesn't look as cheerful as he usually does. If you even consider that smile real. Without other people around him, it was just…but that time was when Haku and Gaara had left him alone. But weren't there other people there to keep him company? Why would he turn down that offer so he wouldn't be by himself?

"And it's really hard to come across good friends these days, Sasuke-kun."

It was almost scary how well he would predict Sasuke's thoughts. Almost _annoying_, if you will.

"There are acquaintances, friends, and good friends. And Naru-chan only has Gaara and I as his good friends. If you count Kiba and Shikamaru in with 'friends', then Naru-chan would really have only the four of us to count on. Everyone else is an acquaintance, people who aren't close to him at all."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He didn't like where this was going.

"Because…I think Naru-chan thinks of you as a friend."

And there it was!

"Well, I don't."

"But he's really the only one you talk to aside from Shikamaru and myself! Like I said: even if you guys are fighting, you guys are friends!"

"You're mistaken."

He could feel his eyes narrowing at the other boy for a second time that day.

"Please, Sasuke-kun. It's really hard to find someone who can reciprocate the exact same feelings back to you."

Oh, he didn't know how right he was about that. But for all the wrong reasons.

"I know that it seems weird, but that's Naru-chan for you. Just try and understand him a bit more when the spring trip arrives. Please don't ignore him and try to get along with him as much as possible, okay?"

And he couldn't help but think that that would interfere with Kimi-something's plans. Not that it mattered; he never wanted to help him in the first place. But the blonde was truly annoying and he didn't want to be hanging around with him for those three days. But Haku was pleading him, _begging_ Sasuke to do this one favor.

If only there was something Sasuke could get in return from him…

But his mind quickly overpowered whatever his body was trying to tell him. Instead, he quickly jumped up from his seat and grabbed his bag, intending to leave.

"Sorry, but he's your friend, not mine. So I have no interest in the blonde nor have any intentions to help him in any sort of way."

While he was making his exit, he overheard the pout coming from the feminine boy and thought that it probably would have been better if he stayed to see that.

"Whatever. I'm your partner, so you have no choice but to see him."

What caught the young Uchiha off-guard was the sudden change in the boy's tone. It wasn't the light, sing-song voice he was so used to hearing since day one. But rather a bit deeper and a bit more…_sinister_ than what he would have expected…or liked.

But the fun doesn't stop there! Oh no!

Because as soon as class was over and he put one foot out, he was pulled by the arm by Hyuuga to a secluded corner from the other students. He didn't know what to be more upset about: being manhandled or Hyuuga having the nerve to even _think_ about touching him.

So when things looked clear and the older boy was ready to talk, Sasuke decided to interrupt him.

"Let me guess: Since we're going on the spring trip and Uzumaki is in my class and you're worried about him, you want me to look after him on the trip so nothing will happen to him."

The other boy's eyes widened quite a bit before he regained his composure and spoke.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, I guess I can get into more detail."

"No, I was joking, Hyuuga. I want nothing to do with any of this."

"Then why did you bother bringing that up?"

"Do I look like his babysitter? Why do I have to be the one in charge of the brat? He has plenty of other friends."

"They all already know they have to look out for him and each other. And you're his friend, too."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. That was the second time someone had made that false accusation. And within the same hour.

"I am _not_ that idiot's friend. And I don't know why you people continue to come to that conclusion."

"You associate with him every day. You wouldn't talk to him so much if that wasn't the case."

"We don't talk. We fight. And he's always the one who starts it."

"And this is why you don't consider yourselves friends?"

"What group of friends fight on a regular basis? Besides, that isn't something that makes people friends."

Neji raised an eyebrow, as if what Sasuke was saying was something that would put him in the Looney-bin.

"If you're so sure about this, then tell me what _does_ make a person a friend?"

Sasuke didn't even bat an eye when he gave his explanation.

"When there is a mutual wanting of something from the other person. For instance, you want me to do this favor for you. You and two other people earlier asked me of similar things. So in that context, we're so-called friends."

It really did look like the young Uchiha belonged in the insane asylum. The older boy turned himself completely to look at the other boy.

"What kind of messed up… you think being a friend means you always have to look at things like some business agreement?"

Sasuke didn't like the tone Neji had in his voice. He only narrowed his eyes some more when he answered his question.

"As if there's another way to look at people. Hasn't there been people who wanted something from you and easily dropped you as soon as they knew they couldn't get what they wanted? That _must_ have happened to you at least once since you i_are_/i a Hyuuga."

There was a moment of tension, but it was enough for the older boy to get his unspoken hatred across.

"You know what? Forget it, Uchiha," Neji spat. "I'm _glad_ you're not friends with him. Gods know what would happen if you ever got close to him. A complete disaster."

And with that left in the air, Sasuke's elder classmate made his exit.

And although nothing was supposed to affect an Uchiha, Sasuke cringed at the way Neji looked at him and thought of him as a person lower than him. Uchihas are _never_ lower than anyone. They are always on top in no matter what they do. Why did he care so much about Uzumaki anyway?

Why did anybody, no, _everybody_ care about him?

He just found all new ways of making the raven look bad. And oh! The fun doesn't stop there! Because the king, or rather, "president" of mischief comes to him and pulls him into an empty classroom at the end of the school day.

"Alright. Here's the deal."

And he wants something.

"So…during the school trip…"

Here it comes. 'Please look after me.'

"I need you to protect Haku. Alright?"

"I knew you were going to say- huh?"

Haku? What?

"Just hear me out! So Haku's got a bully, a stalker following him around and the whole thing is just creepy! I've caught the guy looking at Haku so many times before when we were hanging out together! And when I confronted him about staring, all the guy says is that I shouldn't worry so much about it! Can you believe it?"

….No. No he couldn't.

He couldn't believe any of what was coming out of the blonde's mouth.

"Look. I…I know we had some problems in the past…but you're Haku's partner on the trip…so…just this once, not for me, but for him…just look out for him alright?"

Just as the blonde was finishing his request, the young Uchiha could see the tint of red forming in those scarred cheeks and his eyes darting to everywhere but the other boy's gaze. And they remained like that for several minutes, waiting for the answer to come.

"No."

The blonde's eyes jumped up to stare at Sasuke's, unable to figure out why he would turn down the request. But no matter how much he stared, he was never going to get an answer out of the raven. Not with the cold stare he was giving the younger boy.

Suddenly, out of the silence, the blonde just started chuckling. It was dark and low, meaning he didn't find any real humor behind the entire incident, just complete disappointment.

"I can't believe this," he mumbles. "No, I do. The one time I listen to Neji…others helping…and of course it blows up in my face."

Sasuke would have questioned what he was talking about if he didn't start talking again.

"No…it's not others…the problem is you."

"_I'm_ the problem?"

"Of course you are! I ask you for one little thing, something that should come naturally, and you can't even do that! You can't do one nice thing for someone else! You don't have a fucking nice bone in your whole fucking body and you think everything in the fucking world revolves around you! Why the hell can't you do this one little thing?"

"What? Do something for _you_? Because why? You wanted something from me? Because you think we're _friends_?"

"Of course not."

Of course not? _Of course not?_ Then why the hell would he bother his time asking for something?

"I wouldn't dare waste that word on someone like you."

And on that note, without even looking the boy in the eye, the blonde turned around and left Sasuke to stand in the classroom alone.

He stood there for the longest time, letting the words the Uke president sink in, before thinking back on everything that has happened since day one. Since then, trouble had started. His perfect records have been tarnished. And even his image as a calm-headed, cool and collected Uchiha seem to have broken, making a Hyuuga actually look better than him! And why?

Because of that blonde dumbass! Uzumaki Naruto!

He had been trouble for the raven since day one and nothing seemed to have gone better since then! Even the little glimpse of hope with Haku seemed to have shattered learning that the boy was taken! Nothing in this school was right! No one here was in their right mind!

And everything here seemed to revolve around one person.

Uzumaki.

Sasuke slammed his fist, knuckle first, into the desk near him to try and burn his frustration. But that didn't seem to do any good because he was still fuming about everything that had happened so far. And now with the spring trip coming up, with Haku as his partner, he was sure to see the idiot tan boy once again in his face for the entire trip. And of course with the fight, things would only get more tense between them.

This shouldn't be happening.

None of this should be happening.

Uchihas were perfect, and nothing less of that. But everything had gone down the drain the moment he set foot on the school grounds. The moment he met with Uzumaki. And he knew that the longer things went on, the worse things would get. But there was no escape. Konoha Shonen High was the best school in the region and the only thing around that would make Sasuke's record look good to the world. But the fact that that the blonde seemed to have everything and everyone wrapped around his little finger was tearing the raven from the inside out.

Of course he knew it wouldn't be easy.

He just never expected things to be so annoying and painful as well.

Sasuke was still fuming even when he made his way out of the building and past the school gates. Just when he was about to start his daily sprint from the hoard of fangirls that were stalking him, he froze.

On the other side of the road, he saw the blonde and his redhead friend walking down the sidewalk. Uzumaki talking and had a smile on his face that was completely different than the one he shows to the people at school. And even the redhead had his lips curling in an unusual fashion, one that resembled a smile. Haku sprinted behind them and caught the tan boy into a tight embrace from behind before wrapping his small arms around the blonde's own arm, flashing him a smile. It would have been a nice scene, to anyone else aside from the young Uchiha, except for the thing only Sasuke's eyes could point out.

The smile he gave Haku was nothing like the one he gave the redhead. It was the exact same one he gave to everyone else in the school when he was hiding behind that mask.

What a fucking hypocrite.

Sasuke's fist clenched at the sight, the blonde tricking the feminine boy with that fake smile of his.

Glad they're not friends?

Wouldn't waste that word on the likes of Sasuke?

It would have made him laugh if he wasn't so unbelievably pissed at the moment.

Of course he would never use that word.

_Friends._

It was such a weak and misused word to describe the people around you who were afraid to become your enemy. A word to associate yourself with someone in order to make your status better than what it originally would be. A fake word used to tempt others into providing things that shouldn't be leant to other people, only to have negative consequences to affect them and try to brush it off by using that word yet again.

He knew all too well that word and the negative side effects it had. He wasn't going to be calling the classmates around him that word. And if they chose not to use that word on him, then that was fine as well. There was no need to bring his status down with such a feeble word like that.

Friendship is only a word. There is no deeper meaning behind it.

* * *

**I'm super sorry for the huge delay. I know I always say I'll get things going faster, but still come back to apologize for a lack of updates.**

**This chapter turned out to be a bit more special (to me). During the break, I had some friend trouble and suddenly became depressed. I went and talked about it on my deviantART account, and so many people turned around and said they had been in a similar situation. About how fickle people can sometimes be. I went for a long time with lack of trust in people, even some of my other friends. And I think that can be seen in this chapter as well as the last.**

**So next chapter will be the spring trip. The mood's gonna lighten up here, so don't worry about the story becoming too dramatic. :)**


	9. Gaiden: Friendship

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own the series _Naruto or any of the characters or related themes to it. Nor do I make a profit off of the fanart that I make._**

* * *

**This is an extra chapter, not particularly relating to the main story but still holding it's own importance. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Thank you, Ichiro-kun. And will the next person introduce themself to the class?"

The dark-haired child placed his palms flat on his desk as he rose himself for the whole 2nd grade class to see. He didn't pay any attention to all the eyes on him or the nervousness in his belly. All he did was focus on how to present himself to the people around him and show that he was a strong person, not just by his name or by his appearance alone.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

And that was the beginning of everything going downhill.

It was said that it would be better for him to go to a school with other children rather than being homeschooled alone. It would help his social skills so he knew how to react towards different types of people. Not to mention it would look better when he would graduate at the top of his class, higher than the other hundred or so kids that attended the same place as him and received the same education as him. So the only thing standing in the way was the decision to send him to a public or private school for his education.

And so, Sasuke showed up for his first day of public school.

Just his appearance alone grabbed the attention of all the kids around him. And his name was what made the faculty notice him more than any other student that walked by. Sasuke was the star of the school. And what made him even more outstanding were his high grades, his good athletic skills, and his mature attitude even for someone his age. There was no one around that didn't want him.

But what did they want him for?

"Sasuke-kun!"

The young raven turned his head and saw he was suddenly surrounded by the girls of his class. Some were even from a different class from him.

"We were wondering if you would like to play with us."

All of them looked so eager for his answer. And Sasuke was always taught to be nice to girls. Besides, they never did anything that looked dangerous. All they did around recess was sit around and talk. Occasionally, they played with dolls, but they knew better than to ask Sasuke to do something like that. Deeming it safe, Sasuke gave a small smile and agreed to the girls' request.

He quickly found that he shouldn't have done so.

Right when they said they were playing house and a brunette said she was the mommy, with Sasuke being the daddy, the shouting fight soon turned into a cat-fight with girls tackling each other and pulling at each other's hair, all claiming that they were the ones married to the young Uchiha. When everything finally settled down and it was the end of the day, those same girls ran up to him and asked him a dangerous question: who would he prefer to be married to?

Luckily for him, his ride was there and he didn't have to answer.

* * *

Sports weren't any different than the "Playing House" incident between the girls.

Well, it was different only because he was playing sports and it involved boys, not girls. But when teams had to split up, there was always a fight about which team Sasuke should be on. Eventually, Sasuke did bring a bit of peace saying he should be a team captain and would choose his team. But that only lead to the boys being nice so they could be on the winning team since Sasuke never lost at anything. But it got to the point that they all decided that Sasuke couldn't play. Being who he was, it would be an unfair advantage to any team.

So Sasuke spent his free time at school in the library, studying without anyone else around.

* * *

It was the longest walk home he could remember. Technically, it had always been a long distance from his school to his house, but there was always someone there to distract him from the time. Generally, about three people would accompany him along the sidewalk until they got to his house to where he would entertain them until dark before they would copy his homework since it always got so late.

It became a routine for the young raven for a few months. But at least he was getting attention and people were always so happy to hang around him.

But lately, he wasn't in the mood for that kind of thing.

His home became suddenly so empty, bordering the lines of "creepy." And he didn't want to stay inside that place for so long. No one that was so close to him was waiting there anymore. Now, he was by himself at might silently crying himself to sleep. No one was there to tuck him in anymore or to comfort him until he flew off to dreamland.

But those boys were continually persistent. Sasuke was given a month of grieving, but that was as long as they could wait until they wanted to come over again. They continually asked him if he still owned those sweet cookies or if he had gotten any further from that shooting game on his expensive game system. And when it would be a good time to come over again.

Not a single question of how he was holding up or if he was sleeping well.

No. He was hardly sleeping. The dark always seemed to keep him up.

And no, he wasn't doing well. He was terribly lonely at home.

But they kept egging him on. Over and over. He knew he had to put a stop to it, but he didn't want to be so mean about it. He told those group of boys there were no more sweets since he never liked him. He stopped playing games since he wanted to study more. And his house wasn't the best place to hang out anymore.

Why didn't they hang around one of their places, instead?

It was impossible and a lame idea, they said. And they called him a bad person for not inviting them over anymore. Apparently, what had just happened to the young boy meant nothing if he wasn't able to provide games and food as well as other neat toys for the boys who were nice enough to grace him with their presence. And if he couldn't do that for him, then what was the point of them hanging out with him in the first place?

He was always alone anyways. If he didn't want to be, he should just open his big empty house to everyone.

It was then Sasuke realized how long the walk was without them chatting up a storm. Or how quiet it was when nighttime came and how he seemed to have plenty of food for the week now that he didn't have to feed so many people.

His house was empty. His heart was empty. And it hurt.

But he figured, since he suffered through something much worse earlier, then this pain was nothing in comparison.

At least he was able to get his homework done faster without the distractions.

* * *

"We're missing a guy! Just this once! _Please!_"

He was older, and so were his classmates. And at this age, hormones started to kick in. The girls took a huge interest in the opposite sex, and the boys soon did as well. Sasuke, at the age of 12, was a little close to the other boys in his class. He wouldn't exactly go as far as to call them "friends", but they were on some pretty good terms. The boys lately talked about how some girls kept talking to them and finally wanted to have a goukon (1) with them. Sasuke never said he was interested, and he really wasn't, but he somehow ended up getting pulled into it.

"Please? You'd be an awesome friend if you did this!"

Friend.

That word struck chord. He had never been called that before, all because of complicated situations, and he never found a reason to call anyone else that, either. And so, despite his best judgment, the young Sasuke finally agreed to accompany them.

...

"What the fuck, Uchiha?"

Sasuke heard this when he was punched in the face and landed straight on his ass.

He knew this would happen. And he should have said it would.

When they got to the meeting place, the girls just wouldn't take their eyes off of Sasuke. He grew up to be pretty good looking, but it was something completely overlooked by the boys. And to top it all off, he had an aloof attitude, so the girls were just going crazy over him.

No one else. Just Sasuke.

Sasuke spat the taste of iron from his mouth as he glared at the three other boys surrounding him. He knew there would be trouble from here on out, so there was no point in holding back. He could faintly hear all the girls yelling at the faceless boys to leave the raven alone since he never did anything wrong. But it was all for nothing. Sasuke already had the whole thing under control.

The fight was short. But in the end, the boys stood no chance in winning. The young Uchiha came out almost unscratched, minus the sucker-punch from earlier, and the girls were swarming all over him.

He knew, from that point on, things would only get much worse from there. There was no hope for the boy to find someone he could seriously get close to.

* * *

If it wasn't the un-Uchiha thing to do, Sasuke would have screamed. And he probably would have screamed like a girl. But just as stated, it was not an Uchiha's place to scream like a little baby, so he kept it in. But there was plenty to be afraid of.

There, on his bed, straddling him and peeling off his sheets, was his math teacher from his school. There was nothing wrong with the way she looked. Hell, this probably would have been any school boy's dream to have a hot teacher crawling into their bed and wanting to be taken. But that wasn't Sasuke's dream because he's been followed and attacked by so many girls that security questions run to his head faster than the thought of losing his virginity with an experienced and attractive woman.

For instance: how the hell did she get in his room?

"Sasuke-kun~" she cooed.

This only made Sasuke stiffen more. He heard that voice so many times before, just under her breath for only him to hear when the classroom was filled with other people. He saw the looks she gave him and the way she seductively licked her lips as he looked directly in his eyes from time to time. Her constant suggestions for "private tutoring" made him get the hell out of the classroom faster than any other student.

Now, his body may have been reacting the way a normal fourteen-year-old body would be, but his mind was past that age. So even with her hand slowly ran over his crotch as a way to provoke his member, his head was screaming for a way to get rid of her.

He saw the way he looked at her. It was the same way she looked at every other attractive student and teacher within the school. It was no secret how she wasn't interested in her husband any longer and was looking for someone else to be with. But that was the thing: Sasuke was just an outlet for her (sexual) frustration.

She had no interest in the raven as a person.

Sasuke made that very clear when he used the phone to call the police, right after he used it to clonk the psycho teacher.

* * *

"Are you sure?"

Sasuke slowly nodded his head without looking away from his textbook.

Truth was that she was the only person left that he would go near or talk to normally. Everyone else had been such a pain over the years and she was the only one left that was tolerable. But even with this, he knew that simple bond they had was already beginning to break.

It was the final straw and Sasuke wanted out. He was sick of the school. Sick of that part of the city and he wanted to get away from it all. There was no one for him to think of and no reason for him to stay. He heard of the all-boys private school that was getting a lot of praise over the years and he saw it as a way to help his image. The only thing left for him to was find a great reason to leave.

That whole incident with Ami-sensei was his ticket out.

After a bit of silence, the curiosity got the better of him and he looked up from the text and saw emerald eyes filling with tears. Despite him hardening his appearance over the years, he still seemed to soften up when people began to cry. Even if the girls were doing it because of rejection or faking it for a date, Sasuke still seemed to be sucked in. But after a bit, he still found a way to resist.

But it wasn't so easy for this girl here.

"Sasuke…kun…"

Sasuke closed the book and looked at the girl straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. Besides, it's a better school there and I should be able to get a higher GPA and education. Besides, you're too smart for this school and should think about going somewhere else as well. Being at this school after something like that is not going to look good for anyone still attending here."

Even with that kind of explanation, it still didn't seem to help her tears. Instead of agreeing with him, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the dark-haired teen and cried softly in his chest. Her grip was surprisingly tighter than that of any other normal girl, but he quickly brushed it aside thinking of it as her way of not wanting to let go. He turned his eyes down and saw nothing but pink, the top of her hair tickling his nose, threatening to make him sneeze.

And there, he heard her mumble something. He couldn't make out what it was, but her body messages were clear enough. Her grip became tighter and she pressed her whole body against his. She was trying to get as close to him as possible, trying to tell him something without actual words. But it was as clear as day to him, even if she didn't what she meant for him to hear.

She wasn't his friend. She was trying to win his heart. And in the sneakiest way possible. All those years together where she didn't bother to be direct and just ask him to go out with her. She was trying to make it to where _he_ would ask _her_ out. What annoyed him the most was the fact that he didn't even bother to think of that earlier.

No. He knew. But he just wanted to hang onto the thought of having at least one person to count on.

Having one _friend_.

He wanted to violently pull away from her embrace and start yelling at her. He wanted to pour out all his anger, all his built-up frustration of betrayal and loneliness from the past ten years and just shout it out to the world. But he knew that it was all too late. Ten years of this, and nothing would change. Nothing would i_ever_/i change. So instead, he just drew back on what good times they did share together, tricking his heart to believe they were actually friends at those times.

He slowly wrapped his hands around her body and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Thank you," he whispered.

* * *

It was a cram semester he was attending before the next semester of his new school. Registration was already done for the fall, but he still had a chance for the spring. And since his old school didn't have the same level of academics as Konoha Shonen High, he had to gather as much knowledge as possible before testing for a chance to be a student there.

"Okay. Listen up," Sasuke commanded.

They were broken into groups and Sasuke was grouped with a few interesting people. The first was a boy with short light blonde hair, almost the color of snow. His teeth looked abnormally sharp and he always had a drink in his hand while slacking off from his work. Next, God forbid, was _another_ female. But this redhead just tried to hide her desire for the raven behind her glasses and her loud and obnoxious attitude that got on his nerves. It also got on the white-haired boy's nerves as well, since he always took every opportunity to tell her about it. This always followed by some kind of physical abuse. Finally, there was a really tall boy who almost never talked. "Don't speak unless spoken to" seemed to be his choice of attitude. But even with such a hard exterior, he always looked at the birds outside the window with such gentleness.

Oh yeah. This looked like a _great_ group of people.

"Listen. There's only one goal at this cram school and it is this: to get good grades. I'm not looking for companionships or to make any ties of any kind. I only plan to learn the material and will only work with you if it has something to do with our assignments. Don't break these terms and don't get on my nerves and everything will go swimmingly. Got it?"

The whole group was quiet for a second before the sharp-toothed boy broke out in a fit of laughs.

"Straight to the point, aren't you Uchiha?" he laughed. "Well, I don't mind too much. But I have one condition. I get bored and distracted pretty easily. You find some way to keep me entertained and I guarantee things won't turn out as bad as they could be."

An argument broke out between that boy and the girl while the taller one found a red bird to keep his mind from the fight. Despite the rough start, things turned out pretty well for that semester.

Why? Because Sasuke didn't have any "friends" to worry about.

* * *

The alarm went off and the raven quickly slammed his hand on the machine to shut it up. He didn't sleep for that long and, surprisingly, he didn't seem that tired. He made his way down the hall to the kitchen and ate a light meal before washing up. Afterwards, he changed from his tank top and boxers and changed to his swimming trunks and a white T-shirt.

This was the day he was forced to spend time with his classmates.

No academic reasons or benefits for him to see behind it all.

It was going to be hell.

He slowly took a breath to try and wash away his annoyance as he grabbed his bags and headed out the door.

The only thing he knew for certain was that this trip wasn't going to be anything close to relaxing.

TUC GAIDEN END

* * *

**_(1) Goukon is a meeting of many students from different schools who will get together in hopes of finding a boyfriend/girlfriend. Generally, these meetings are made by college students and by tow separate groups - boys and girls._**

**I know people have been in in this position sometime before. And quite possibly, you may have been the one to do the harm in the relationship. I know I have been the one that's been hurt in most relationships, but I may be guilty for hurting someone as well.**

**But even so, if you're aware of the harm you are causing others, then you can try and prevent it in the future before you lose those friends. And if you are the one being hurt, it's best to just tell people up front about the problem rather than having them feed off of you like a leech before it's too late. It will save you the time and possibly money.**

**If you are friends with someone just because you or him/her only want one thing out of it, mostly a materialistic item or event, and do not even worry or consider about other people as a person, then the relationship will never last and it's best to go your separate ways. Because it's better to have someone close for who you are and not your status or what you have. Otherwise it has negative consequences on people in the future.**

**Sasuke had to learn the hard way about this.**


End file.
